Genesis #25 - The Gospel According to Abraham #15 - "The Tests and Triumphs of Faith" (Genesis 22

If you have a Bible and I hope you do take it and turn with me to Genesis chapter 22 By the way, if you don't have a

Bible and would like one just put your hand up we can get one to you Genesis chapter 22 page 16 in the red

Bibles that we give away Genesis chapter 22 we won't read the entire chapter though.

We will walk our way through it We'll just read the first 12 verses. So Genesis chapter 22 and we'll read verses 1 to 12

It's our custom here at Redeemer that when we come to the portion of God's Word We're going to preach through that we stand together out of respect for God's Word And so if you are able to do so,

I encourage you to stand with me as we read Genesis chapter 22 reading from verse 1 and reading down to verse 12

Genesis 22 1 to 12 Brothers and sisters these are God's words

After these things God tested Abraham and said to him Abraham here

I am He answered Take your son He said your only son

Isaac whom you love go to the land of Moriah and offer him there as a burnt offering on One of the mountains

I will tell you about So Abraham got up early in the morning Saddled his donkey and took with him two of his young men and his son

Isaac He split wood for a burnt offering and set out to go to the place. God had told him about on The third day

Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance Then Abraham said to his young men stay here with the donkey the boy and I will go over there to worship

Then we'll come back to you Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and laid it on his son Isaac In his hand, he took the fire and the knife and the two walked on together

Then Isaac spoke to his father Abraham and said my father and he replied here. I am my son Isaac said the wood and the fire are here.

But where is the lamb for the burnt offering? Abraham answered

God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering my son Then the two of them walked on together

When they arrived at the place that God had told him about Abraham built the altar there and arranged the wood He bound his son

Isaac and placed him on the altar on top of the wood Then Abraham reached out and took the knife to slaughter his son, but the angel of Yahweh Called to him from heaven and said

Abraham Abraham He replied here

I am Then he said do not lay a hand on the boy or do anything to him For now,

I know that you fear God since you have not withheld your only son from me

The grass withers the flower fades, but the Word of God abides forever Please join me as I pray ask for the

Spirit's help and we get to work in this portion of God's Word. Let's pray together Well our

Heavenly Father we thank you so much that we have another opportunity to come and to open up your word Father we thank you that every time that we come to the scriptures you speak to us

That there is always something for us to hear something for us to believe Something for us to live out by your power and by your grace

And so father we ask as we walk through this chapter in your word We pray that you would give us

Understanding that you would give us open and teachable hearts to learn the lessons that come from this portion of your word

Father is usually our habit during this time to pray for another area Church but I want to take this opportunity this afternoon to pray for our ongoing search for a

Sunday morning location Father we thank you for your provision up to this point even providing us this space in ideal as it is and Timing not being the greatest as it is

Father you've been gracious to provide us the space even to worship and so father we ask that as we continue looking and searching that you would be pleased to Provide us a place where we can worship on Sunday mornings and not just worship

Sunday mornings, but gather together throughout the week Lord your word tells us that we are to be mindful of gathering together and not

Absenting ourselves as the manner of some is so father help us that we would have a location that would enable us to do that And do it well

Pray once again for your blessing upon your word as it's preached now We ask it in Jesus name and for his sake.

Amen Please be seated well this afternoon,

I want to speak to you from the subject the tests and triumphs of faith the tests and Triumphs of Faith, I don't know what your experience at school was like I look back on my years of at least compulsory education and In the

UK you have to go to school up to the age Well when I was at school was at 16, I was 18 But up until the age of 16, it was compulsory for me to go to school.

So I went every day Yeah, I went every day and Honestly, I had a love -hate relationship with school.

I am a nerd by nature. So the learning part I actually didn't mind I enjoyed that part

Classrooms are kind of a happy place for me provided everyone's behaving themselves And so for the most part

I liked I liked the learning part mostly like my teachers You know, some were not that great if I was honest, but in general

I like that part of school I had some friends. I was not a very popular kid at school, but I had some friends and you know kind of Navigated all of that Unfortunately, I went to an all -boys school, which by the way,

I do not recommend I don't know who's dumb idea it was to stick a thousand boys in one building

No, no Thankfully you all don't do that here in the US, which I'm very thankful for In the

UK, they still think that's a good idea, but that was not great But if there was one thing

I did not like about school Like with the good stuff and the bad stuff if there was one thing

I did not like at school It was tests. I did not like tests at school.

I still don't like tests and I'm 32 years old I Like I said, I like learning and I don't actually mind doing work

So if you tell me go write a paper like go like go do these math questions.

I have no problem I I'm glad I'll do whatever you tell me to there's no problem Just don't stick me in a room with a with some paper with a bunch of questions on it and demand me to pull out

Random information that may or may not be the same as what we learnt in class. I hate tests nothing in my opinion about the test environment is designed to be pleasant and What they don't tell you is that at least they didn't tell me at school

Was that all these tests you're taking at school? Oh, you'll leave school, but you might have to take tests somewhere else You might for certain jobs have to do some testing if you want to get another qualification in the future

You've got to do more tests You can't even go see your doctor without your doctor willing to run tests on you tests are everywhere and If we're honest for most of humanity testing is frankly

Unpleasant and if you say it's not try change my mind.

You can't Testing is fundamentally an unpleasant affair well, despite my disdain for tests and Exams in general the

Bible is actually kind of clear that if you're a Christian testing unfortunately is an essential part of being a

Christian keep something here in Genesis 22 term with me in the New Testament to James chapter 1

James chapter 1 James chapter 1

James is often called the Proverbs of the New Testament because it is such a rich practical book in the way that it approaches the

Christian life and Right out of the gate in the book of James as James gets started he lays on us what may be for some a set of somewhat difficult truths

James chapter 1 I want to look at the first three verses or so verses 2 through 4 after he gives his introduction in verse 1

James chapter 1 verses 2 through 4. Look what it says It says consider it a great joy.

Some of your translations will say all joy Because that's literally what it says. The idea is all kinds of joy

Consider it a great joy because every all kinds of joy my brothers and sisters whenever you experience

Various trials Like I said testing is not fundamentally pleasant.

That's why God's Word has to tell us To count it to consider it to reckon it a great joy whenever you experience various trials.

Why should we do that verse 3? Because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance persistence

Perseverance if your faith was never tested it would not produce endurance James says

So James says first for and let endurance have its full effect Literally, let it do its complete work.

There's something that testing is designed to do don't short -circuit that work Let it do what it needs to do

Let endurance have its full effect so that you may be mature and Complete and this is the part that gets me verse 4 lacking

Nothing. I mean what James says here is pretty major that without trials and testing

We would be missing something as God's people So despite my general disdain for tests

The reality is if we were never tested we would be missing something according to James We would not be whole in our journey with Jesus if you're here today, and you're a

Christian We would not be whole in that journey with Jesus if we never experienced the moment of test

Well come back with me to Genesis chapter 22 because as we approach Genesis 22 that reality that God uses testing to Grow us to mature us to show us what we really are

That reality really is at the heart of this section that we're going to study this afternoon as we come to Genesis chapter 22

In essence this section teaches us the reality that without tests there can be no

Testimony without trials we cannot come to maturity as we walk with the

Lord Really this chapter chapter 22 It's often known as the binding of Isaac or Hebrew writers used to call it the

Akedah from the word to bind The the binding of Abraham of Isaac, excuse me really is the climax of the

Abraham saga we started this way back in February and now we're coming to something of the climax of the

Abraham saga as As Matthew Henry notes here is the trial of Abraham's faith whether it continued so strong so vigorous so victorious after a long settlement in communion with God Essentially as we come to this passage

We're being confronted with a question has Abraham learned the lessons that God has sought to teach him over the past 30 plus years as Abraham has walked with God Has Abraham learned anything even when he's had his moments of doing the less than optimal and less than ideal

Can we rightly say that Abraham has finally gotten the point

Well, that's what we're going to find out as we march our way through this chapter And as we march our way through this chapter, we're going to see two things happen for one we're going to see

Abraham's faith really come into its most full and Mature expression up to this point and not only that Yes, we're gonna see

Abraham's faith blossom in this chapter But we're also going to see some great and precious truths about the goodness and grace of God even in the face of trials

Because let me be clear. I think I said this last week and allow me to say it again when it comes to trials You are either

Going into a trial you are either in one or you're coming out of one preparing for the next one and If that reality makes you uncomfortable and if that reality sounds like it's not fair.

Well, that's this is true for everyone None of us get a pass on any of this

And so what we're going to see in Genesis chapter 22 actually has a lot to teach us on that front

And so we have to ask what exactly is

God trying to teach us about our faith When he tests our faith

What exactly is God trying to teach us about our faith when he tests our faith?

Well, if I had to boil down this sermon into one sentence, it would be this Tests of faith aren't designed by God to crush our faith

But to cultivate and to confirm it in Christ Let me say that again.

Tests of faith aren't designed by God to crush our faith But actually if we allow as James says if we allow trials to bring about endurance and endurance and have its complete work

They don't crush our faith, but actually they cultivate our faith and they confirm that faith in Christ Maybe okay

Kofi. What does that have to do with this chapter 22 actually everything for the rest of our time? I want to consider three unique scenes in this section three unique scenes that Unfold as we see

Abraham's greatest test of faith three unique scenes as Abraham's greatest test of faith

Unfolds three scenes. Well, let's settle in. Let's start off with seed number one seed number one. We can call an unexpected test an unexpected test versus one and two

So The setting kind of gets laid out for us in verse one So verse one after these things God tested Abraham and said to him

Abraham By the way after these things Suggests that some time has passed from the events of chapter 21

We know a good bit of time has passed because we're no longer dealing with toddler

Isaac. Remember him in chapter 21 we're not dealing with toddler Isaac Isaac is now old enough that he can have a very

Self -aware conversation with his father which suggests he's probably an adolescent at this point

So some good time has passed And you can imagine just the years have gone by and the normalcy of everyday family life has no doubt set in Abraham is in daddy mode and I can imagine that it was the usual mix of good times and not so great times

But he's a father. He's just enjoying everyday life with his wife and with his son as you come to this passage there's something of an ordinariness to all of this that's kind of assumed and then that ordinariness that just everyday life gets interrupted when we read after these things

God tested Abraham Now if like me you grew up in the

King James Version you see these words in verse 1 it says off it came to pass after these things that God did tempt

Abraham and said unto him The KJV is a fine translation in a lot of ways, but that is a really bad way to translate that In fact, if you go with that and say well, yes,

God tempted Abraham in Genesis 22 You've now created a contradiction in the Bible Because we don't need to turn there again

But I'll read it to you in James 1 that we just read verses 2 through 4 listen to what else James says about trials and temptations

James chapter 1 verses 12 and 13 Blessed is the one who endures trials because when he has stood the test

He will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him No one undergoing a trial should say

I am being tempted by God Since God is not tempted by evil and he himself doesn't tempt anyone

I Believe it was in this country that there was a character Flip Wilson who say the devil made me do it

Sorry flip Wilson the devil didn't make you do a single thing That was you and James says you can't say the devil made you do it and you can't say

God made you do it You can't say when you're tempted well God is the one who's tempting me.

No that doesn't work No, there's a difference between us being tested by God and Us being tempted by God Testing is for the purpose of our growth

It's for the purpose of confirming what faith we have Tempting has nothing to do with our growth nothing to do with our faith in God.

Tempting is for the purpose of enticement to sin God tests his people, but he never tempts his people the idea behind this word in Genesis 22.

That's translated Test here is the idea of proving something the idea of finding out what something is actually made of well

Then that begs the question didn't God know what Abraham was already made of I? Mean surely we don't forget your doctrine of God folks.

We say that God is in theological terms We say he is omniscient five dollar word a simple way of saying that God knows all things potential and actual

That God knows everything that could happen and he knows everything that does happen So when it says that God was testing

Abraham the test wasn't for God's benefit I don't believe that's the case at all.

I don't believe that this was a fact -finding mission for the Almighty as it were No, what we're about to see really is a test for Abraham's benefit

The contents of the test paper if you will comes to us in verse 2 so look at verse 2 Take your son he said your only son

Isaac whom you love go to the land of Moriah and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains

I will tell you about Can I point out some features of this test from that one verse first of all it's a personal test

God is speaking to only one person here God is speaking only to Abraham Abraham. I'm speaking to you.

This is what you need to do. That's why he says Abraham take your son

It's a personal test. It's also a sacrificial test God asks Abraham to give his only son

Again the test is explicit take your son your only son Isaac Now if you've been following us in Genesis, you remember that Abraham did have another son

Ishmael But Ishmael got sent away in the last chapter and some time has passed Ishmael gets sent away because he's not the child of promise and So God essentially says give me the only child you've got

It's a personal test as a sacrificial test thirdly. It's a priority test Did you catch what

God says in verse 2 Take your son your only son Isaac whom you love

God is explicit in the way that he describes Isaac. I'm a father.

In fact Gareth turns three on Friday There isn't anything in the world.

I wouldn't do for my son. I Love my son And I can only imagine

The love that Abraham had for this son that he had waited so long for it's a personal test

It's a sacrificial test. It's a priority test. It's a costly test Okay, where did

I get that from? He tells him take your only son Isaac whom you love go to the land of Moriah the story will tell us later on from Where they were to Moriah was a three -day journey.

This was not an easy journey plus remember this is an old man now This is going to cost

Abraham not to talk of giving up his son It's a personal test a sacrificial test priority test.

It's a costly test. It's a total test So he's told to take your son

You're the only son Isaac whom you love go to the land of Moriah and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains

I Will tell you about The imagery of a burnt offering might be lost on us because we don't offer burnt offerings today.

Thankfully But in the ancient world a burnt offering was total there was nothing left afterwards

You killed the animal first and then you offered it up whole What's the point

Isaac is not going to come back from this. I Appreciate that when you read this this sounds intense.

It sounds like a lot It sounds almost as though this is

Too much to ask of any person, but here's the question that came to my mind as I was studying this text this week

Yes, this is a lot to ask of one man But does God get to submit

Abraham to this degree of testing? Let me personalize it.

I know we're in church And I know that there's a right answer that you're supposed to give to this But let's for a moment on a heart level just ask the question if God came to you and put this kind of demand on you

How would you answer? Before you answer that do a little experiment thought experiment with me for a moment missionaries

You've been around church for a little time we love missionaries, don't we they're kind of our MVPs. They're the heroes

You know, they're the ones who've made tremendous sacrifices We immortalize their stories and prints and sometimes we even make movies about them.

Like we love missionaries After all, they've made the supreme sacrifice so that people who don't know

Jesus can come to know about Jesus. They're great people. We love them But let's be honest.

I Know I've prayed this at points in my Christian life How many of us have prayed never to be in their position as I was studying this week a fellow

British pastor Ian Do good. He's now here in the US. He's a excellent commentator on the Old Testament.

I highly recommend his anything he writes on the Old Testament in His commentary on the life of Abraham he

Kind of crystallized this thought that I had him. It was it's a long quote, but I couldn't help but share it He says this quote.

It's sobering to visit the graveyards of pioneer missionaries Many of those who went out to West Africa in the last century lasted only a few months

Some barely made it off the boat What do they accomplish for God? What fruit did they see in their labors?

There in a distant land, they not only buried their dreams of ministry, but often also their wives and small children

They were willing to pull themselves out and their loved ones out as a sacrifice to the

Lord Coming to the story of Abraham. We cannot help but ask ourselves.

Are we willing to do the same? The reader knows that this was only a test but Abraham didn't

Did Abraham serve God for God's blessings or for God himself Was he willing to obey

God even if it seemed that God was not going to honor his promises in this life How about you and me?

If God were to take away every possession that you own and with it your spouse your family and your friends

Would you still serve him? What if there was to be what if there were to be no fruit that you could see from your life of faithful service?

to him What have you to pour out yourself in sharing the gospel with people who ultimately rejected it not once or twice but for a lifetime

What if you were betrayed by those whom you most trusted? Are you willing to say am

I willing to say if I have God and God alone? I have everything

I need for life and death Now let's be clear

I'm not saying that God is going to come to all of us at some point and ask us to do something like Abraham That's not necessarily the point.

The question is if God came, what would your response be? And let's be clear when

I say when God came I mean in Providence in the circumstances of life It becomes apparent that okay. God's hand has dealt with me in such a way as he wants this from me

What would you say? You see the reality is that every

Christian every person who comes to Jesus when you came to Jesus you accepted the call to radical life -altering followership of Jesus That's why

Jesus could say Luke 9 23 If anyone wants to follow after me, let him deny himself

Take up his cross daily and follow me And again, this does not mean that we're all gonna be called to go to the mission field

I agree with Carrie, Carrie famously said not everyone's called to go down the well Some people hold the rope for the people who go down the well

So no, I'm not saying every Christian needs to pack up their belongings give up everything go to the mission field

I'm not saying that I believe in vocation I believe that God places us where we are and we're called to glorify him where we are

So no, we're not all gonna go to the mission field or find ourselves in the hot seat of the martyrs So to speak in fact for most of us

The chances of the sacrifices that God is God might be calling us to won't mean losing our lives

But it might mean losing your life as you know it It might mean giving up that great

Western virtue of convenience For the difficulty of pursuing the important it might mean giving up legitimately good things

For the best things it might mean giving up the idol of easiness and things working for me

To achieve that which is of paramount importance It might mean adopting the same kind of mindset that Paul had 1st

Corinthians 9 19 to 23 He says although I'm free from all and not anyone slaves as I have all the freedom in the world.

I Have made myself a slave to slave to everyone in order to win more people To the

Jews that became like a Jew to win Jews to those under law Like one not under the law though I myself am not under the law to win those under the law to those who are without the law like one without the law

I'm gonna skip on verse 22 says to the week. I became weak in order to win the week I have become all things to all people.

Can I pause and say that had to be inconvenient for Paul? Think about who's a

Jew. He has a particular way of behaving. He's not a young man He's pretty set in his ways and yet for the sake of reaching those who don't know

Jesus He's willing to make sacrifices that no doubt were inconvenient for him And so he says

I have become all things to all people so that I may by every possible means save some

Now I do all this because of the gospel So that I may share in its blessings.

The reality is for Paul He recognized that what was to be gained was far more important than what he would lose

And if that meant a little inconvenience in this life, and this is a constant theme with Paul I just pick one passage.

He makes this point over and over and over again I don't need it to be convenient and work for me. It just needs to work for the gospel's sake

And again, I'm being painstakingly clear when I say this I hope this will look different for everyone

But let's be clear While the manifestation of this might look different to everyone

The call to sacrifice, the kind of sacrifice that we see here from Abraham That call to sacrifice, that's just normal Christianity Doing the hard thing every day because we rightly recognize that Jesus is worth it

That God is worth it.

And I have no doubt that that's probably what's going through Abraham's mind As he hears this

I could say more, but we need to keep moving. Abraham is faced with an unexpected test and he responds to that unexpected test with second scene unquestioning trust

Unquestioning trust in verses 3 through 12. Now at this point, come back to our text

Abraham could say no to all of this He could say, you know, not today.

No God, you've asked me a lot Hey, when we began you told me to leave my father's house.

I did that You told me to give up the security of the home that I owned to go basically live in tents in the desert

I did that You've asked me to give up this, that, and the other.

I've sent even my own son Away because you told me to. Abraham could clearly have said, you know what?

I'm willing to go with you to a point, but this is a step too far I mean for a moment.

Fellas Imagine you're Abraham and you have to go back to your wife and tell her this Honey You always spoke to me yes today and you might want to sit down for this

He wants me to take Isaac and Travel three days out, offer him as a burnt offering.

You know what some Jewish writers say, I don't think this is true But some of them say that Spoiler alert, next

Sunday, we're gonna look at the death of Sarah They say that the death of Sarah started from this moment. I don't think there's something to that personally

But I can understand why they say that. I can just imagine Abraham having this conversation and it not going well for him

It would be akin to me saying to Laura, hey Laura So I'm gonna take Gareth We're gonna drive to Arizona We're gonna go to the

Grand Canyon and I'm gonna throw him off I can guarantee that one of us isn't gonna come back alive and it might not be

Gareth Like it's not gonna go well for me I would not want to be

Abraham in this scenario and That's what makes his response all the more striking look at verse 3

Abraham asked no questions. In fact, there are a few ways we see this.

I'm questioning trust Let me not run too quickly. Let's slow it down. First of all, you see it in Abraham swift action swift action verse 3

So verse 3 Abraham got up early in the morning saddled his donkey and took with him two of his young men and his son

Isaac No delay, no arguments. No reasoning with God. By the way, we know Abraham is capable of all of those

Just immediate action at the first possible opportunity I Think of my own father and he would say to us growing up when he asked us to do something and we did it on Our timescale not his he would say kids delayed obedience is disobedience well for Abraham, there's none of that God said go and Off he goes

So we see unquestioning trust from Abraham. It's seen in Abraham swift action But also it's seen in Abraham's grasp of God's promises in Abraham's grasp of God's promises

So look at verse 4 on the third day. So they've been traveling three days and they finally see the place they've arrived on The third day

Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance Then Abraham said to his young men stay here with the donkey

The boy and I will go over there to worship then we'll come back to you

Did Abraham just tell his servants a lie? We think about this for a moment Did God say anything about going to worship?

Well kind of he did say go offer a burnt offering. That's an act of worship. Okay But Abraham just said we'll go to worship and then we'll come back to you did

God say anything about Isaac coming back So did Abraham just tell his servants a lie again

Abraham's got form so we have to ask the question I don't think that he's telling them a lie, obviously.

I Actually think Abraham knows a little more about God than he's letting on to his young men I know this because when

I turn to the New Testament, it gives me some additional insight Keep something here turn to Hebrews chapter 11

Hebrews in chapter 11. We all know this as the hall of faith chapter this chapter that kind of I Think if we read it wrong tells us about all the amazing feats of these people.

I don't think that's the point I think the point of this chapter is this is the God that they pointed their faith in He gave them the ability to persevere.

Guess what? That's what you Hebrews need Hebrews chapter 11 and Abraham gets a slot here in the hall of faith

Hebrews chapter 11. I want to read verse 17 Hebrews chapter 11 in verse 17 This is what

God's Word says By faith Abraham when he was tested offered up Isaac he received the promises and Yet he was offering his one and only son the one to whom it had been said your offspring will be traced through Isaac Look at verse 19

He considered God to be able even to raise someone from the dead

Therefore he received him back Figuratively speaking. This is the point of the

Hebrews trying to make Abraham's faith wasn't exemplary because it was such amazing faith Abraham's faith is exemplary because it was pointed in the right direction

See what has God told Abraham up to this point? He told him yeah,

I'm going to give you life You're going to have offspring and through this up through your offspring.

All of the nations will be blessed that's the promise God made land seed and blessing if God had told

Abraham that he would be the father of a great nation and he's explicit in saying that will be through Isaac the follow

Abraham's logic I think the letter the letter to the Hebrews is helping us to understand here if God wanted

Isaac in that kind of a total way, then God would have to bring him back

Otherwise God can keep his promise and I think

Abraham knows enough about God that he keeps his promises That he can tell the young men yeah, we're gonna go we'll be back a few moments ago

I went kind of hard on this need for sacrifice Can I give you the other side of the coin pulpit integrity demands that I kind of share with you the other half of that?

Reality. Yes, we are called to sacrifice. Yes We are called that when God comes a knocking we answer but let's be honest in and of yourself

You can't do it and neither can I? None of us can do it The the pull of our flesh when given the option of doing what we want and doing what

God wants That pull can only be broken by promises that supersede that pull

The reality is it's understanding the promises of God that Empowers us to sacrifice for the

Lord anyone here familiar with the story of the

Moravian slaves If you're not it's an interesting story The Moravians were a group descended from the preaching of Jan Haas the pre -reformer in what's now the

Czech Republic This group kind of descended from him and in the 1700s they became quite a missionary force

In the 1700s two of their group felt the call of God to go to the West Indies to Evangelize the heathen as they would say in those days

Some of you may know their leader count Zinzendorf. He famously had that quote preach the gospel die and be forgotten Count Zinzendorf would typically go and pray when people said they wanted to go somewhere and then

After praying if he felt that the Lord was leading in that direction, he would send them out So count

Zinzendorf goes he prays He receives what he believes to be confirmation.

And so he says, okay We're not sure how this is going to work and so the story goes they thought about a number of different ways and finally these two young men who

Wanted to share the gospel with the heathen in the West Indies said well The best way to do this for us is if we sell ourselves into slavery

Now bear in mind that didn't happen. In fact, there was no legal way for that to happen They couldn't do it in Germany, which is where they were

So they travel the story says from Germany to Denmark And so they get to Denmark and try to get on a ship that's headed for the

West Indies and The government there's like yeah, we are not selling to white people into slavery.

No not happening Well, they persisted and finally they said, you know, what's your funeral quite literally and so the story goes that finally they have sold themselves into slavery a

Group from the missions base in Hernhut as it was called Traveled from Germany to Denmark to see their brothers off and You can just picture the scene.

They're there at this port A number of them are crying because they don't know if they're going to see them again History says they actually did make it back to Germany eventually

But as they're on the boat and the boat starts to pull out you can just picture this scene The story goes that the two men shouted at the top of their lungs something.

That was a kind of a Almost warrior cry for the Moravian movement. May the lamb who was slain receive the reward of his suffering

You see what could empower two young men in the prime of their lives to sell themselves into slavery and go halfway across the world

They understood that Jesus had died And since Jesus had died the Bible says that Jesus would be given an inheritance psalm to he would be given the nation's

Therefore they could go to any nation pretty much and preach the gospel and they would be successful Why because Jesus had already secured the victory and so they say may the lamb who was slain

Receive the reward of his suffering Can I put it to you? It's that kind of understanding that propels you to give your all to Christ So no, you can't actually do it by yourself.

No amount of me pounding the pulpit and Running around and doing metaphorical backflips will make anybody.

I think this is missed sometimes by Christians. You can't force people to serve God No, it's understanding

God's promises that propels us into service It's Abraham's grasp of the promises of God that enables him to go and let's be honest

It will be your grasp or the promises of God that will give you perspective in the moment of testing

So we've seen unquestioning trust in the swift action of Abraham We've seen it in the grasp his grasp of the promises of God.

It's also seen in Abraham's on to do his son So verse 6 off they go

Abraham took the word for the bad offering and laid it on his son Isaac in his hand

He took the fire and the knife and the two of them walked on together Then Isaac spoke to his father

Abraham and said my father and he replied here. I am my son Isaac said the

Fire and the wood are here But where is the lamb for the burnt offering? Smart lad.

He's no doubt seen daddy offer countless sacrifices to Yahweh He knew the process you built an altar of stones you laid wood and kindling on that water

You killed a lamb and then you set it on fire He understood how this process work which tells me that he's somewhat old enough to be able to pay attention and to have a conversation about it and He knows most of the stuff is here but the lamb isn't

Now Abraham has all kinds of options as to how he's gonna answer this He could refuse to answer it

Make it like I didn't hear it. He could Obfuscate he can outright lie.

There's all kinds of things he can do but look at verse 8 Abraham answered God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering my son

Then the two of them walked on together he essentially says son God will sort it Did Abraham know how or if God was going to sort it?

nope, and It's not really his purview all he knows is that God is capable of providing and He would more than likely provide in this moment

We see unquestionable trust in the swift action of Abraham in his grasp of the promises of God in his answer to Isaac in the tough

Situation. It's also seen in Abraham's painful submission versus 9 through 12 Well, the narrative continues and finally they pull up to Mount Moriah And the text is brief in its comment

When they arrived at the place God had told him about Abraham built the altar there and arranged the wood

He bound his son Isaac and placed him on the altar on top of the wood Am I the only one who wonders how

Isaac could be this compliant in this moment I mean think about think think about from Isaac's perspective for just a moment

This has to be the most terrifying time in his entire life. I mean again, he knows what happens to a burnt offering and It's about to happen to him

And you don't hear a peep from him Says he bound his son

Isaac and placed him on the altar on top of the wood Almost reminds me of another son

Who was an only son who at the request of his father? Laid down his own life and the

Bible says of that son that he was like a lamb going to the slaughter Coming back to the narrative here

Abraham very clearly is resolved to submit to the will of God despite the no doubt clear

Confusion and pain that he must have felt and so verse 10 says you can almost kind of see this scene that Abraham reached out

And he took the knife to slaughter his son. So there he is. He takes this knife He's going to plunge it into his son

And if this were a movie you can kind of hear the stabbing string chords the rising orchestra happen

This is it this that unless something happens. This is not gonna end. Well and Just at that moment

Once again as he has a number of times in Genesis God intervenes

Verse 11 But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said

Abraham Abraham He replied here.

I am. Have you noticed that in this passage?

We've seen that phrase here. I am three times already There's one word in Hebrew actually But this is the third time it's come up in the narrative and this might actually be the most important here

I am of all of them The speaker this time Is the angel of the

Lord? Now, I don't particularly like that translation angel of the Lord. I think it should be translated messenger personally.

That's just me Because this is no ordinary angel This is

God's spokesman in fact you read the Old Testament and the the angel of the Lord pops up again and again and again and again and every time he pops

Up, he speaks both for Yahweh and yet he speaks as Yahweh. He speaks for God and as God That's Matthew Henry describes him

He says the angel of the Lord is God himself the eternal word the angel of the covenant who was to be the great redeemer and comforter he

Interposed and gave a happy resolution to this trial And so God intervenes and confirms what had been apparent already to see at verse 12

Look back with me Genesis chapter 22 verse 12 Then he said do not lay a hand on the boy or do anything to him

For now, I know that you fear God since you have not withheld your only son from me

It's become apparent It's become obvious now That Abraham's faith has come to full maturity

That he was willing to give up any and everything on a moment's notice if God spoke

Abraham had finally and definitively Demonstrated his willingness to obey God even when on the surface.

It didn't make much sense It's become apparent That Abraham's faith wasn't in what

God could give him Abraham's faith was ultimately in God and that's why

God could say now I know Not that God didn't know beforehand but now we have a practical demonstration of that and if I can pause for a moment that Distinction is important in a world that essentially tells us think about this.

How many times have you heard this? If God was good, he would give me everything I want If God is good, he would never ask me anything.

He would never deprive me of anything If I can be so bored for a moment now, fam

God is good even when and I would actually go so far as to say especially when

He doesn't give you what you want, but that's not this sermon. That's a sermon for another time For now

The unexpected test is met with Unquestionable trust and in his goodness

God provides see number three an unearned solution an unearned solution verses 13 to 19

So remember when Abraham told Isaac God will provide himself a lamb.

Yeah about that verse 13 Abraham looked up and saw a ram caught in a thicket by its horns

So Abraham went and took the ram and offered it as a burnt offering in place of his son

God offers a solution Isaac is spared But can

I put it to you that that's not what gets me about this story What gets me about this story is this fast forward to another sacrifice that happens actually not too far from here a few thousand years later

Remember I told you about another son beloved by his father and only son who offered his life up Oh interestingly, he offers his life up on an altar of wood itself, but Almost as though God had that plan from the beginning.

Well that son is put on the altar so to speak and When that moment came and the father was poised as it were to strike his own son

The Bible says that unlike what happened to Isaac there was no reprieve There was no voice from heaven to stop that No one jumped in as a substitute for him

But here's the good news No one jumps in as a substitute for him because he was being the substitute not just for one person

But for millions and millions who would place their faith in him

You see if you read this story and you only come away with the lesson of Abraham and his faith

I'm gonna say that you get a lot out of this story, but you won't get everything that this story is intended to teach us

Because like everything else in the Bible this story prepares us for the greatest act of submission to God's will the greatest act of substitution that will ever take place as Verse 14 says so Abraham named the place

Yahweh will provide So today it is said and that tells us that Genesis has some editing way off in the future

So today it is said it will be provided on Yahweh's mountain

If you've grown up in church circles, you've probably heard the name of this place Incorrectly called Jehovah Jireh We sing songs about it

People put it on coffee mugs and posters and bumper stickers You know, God will God will provide for me.

That's not what this verse is about. Please don't use this verse in that way No, this verse is not about God's provision of your temporal needs

This verse is about God's provision of man's biggest need Mount Moriah would become the future home of Solomon's temple

But it's also like I said not too far away From a little place we all know as Calvary Yes, this story is about Abraham and the binding of Isaac, but ultimately

It's about God's fulfillment of his redemptive promise It's about the good news that one day he would send the ultimate provision for our biggest problem

Can I pause for a moment? Our society hasn't got a clue what its biggest problem is Turn on TV.

Everyone's got a solution turn on YouTube Everyone's got a solution or an answer as to what the world's biggest problem is and the way to fix it

The Bible says that your biggest problem is the fact that your sins have separated you from God No amount of money.

No amount of self -improvement. No amount of changing who you are will fundamentally fix that problem the only way that that problem gets solved is when

God himself steps in as a substitute for those who have sinned and You're supposed to read this story and look forward to the day of God's ultimate provision for our biggest problem a

Redeemer who would be the perfect sacrifice for sin and if I can pause for a moment I don't presume that everyone who comes to church

I mean I look at all of you all look great one for his Mother's Day all of that great But I don't presume for a moment that everyone who comes to church actually knows

Jesus so if you don't Can I tell you a little bit about him for just a moment?

Because he is the one who is this perfect sacrifice that this story points to God himself who added to his divine nature a human nature experienced all of the limitations of humanity

While being fully God the entire time He lives the life that we cannot live a life of perfect obedience to God.

He then goes to the cross Willingly, but also at the command of his father. He goes to the cross

He lays down his life for his people and it will be tragic if that's where that story ends But the story doesn't end there because this same one who lays down his life

Said of himself that he had power to put down his life. He had power to take it up again and Three days following his death.

He rose again Proving that death did not have a hold on him and that the work he did on the cross was

Accepted by the father and he says that all you have to do is to believe in what he has done

And in who he is and if you would simply believe You can have eternal life not just life in the future but quality of life in the here and now

This story ultimately isn't about Abraham and Isaac. It's ultimately about God's provision of a

Redeemer Well come back to the story God speaks again in verse 15

Now that we have seen that Abraham's faith is legitimate now that we have seen that this faith is for real and has come to maturity

He receives one final reaffirmation of what God has promised So look at verse 15

Then the angel of Yahweh the messenger of Yahweh called to Abraham a second time from heaven and said by myself

I have sworn This is the Lord's declaration because you have done this and have not withheld your only son

I will indeed bless you and make your offspring as Numerous as the stars of the sky and the sand on the seashore

Your offspring will possess the city gates of their enemies file that phrase away. We'll come and see that in a couple chapters

Your offspring will possess the city gates of their enemies and all the nations of the earth will be blessed by your offspring

Because you have obeyed my command Abraham was willing to give up the physical manifestation of the promise and because he was willing to give that up.

God says, okay Actually, this promise will come to fulfillment

Abraham you can trust me To fulfill it just as you trusted me with your obedience and just like that verse 19

Abraham went back to his young men and they got up and went together on to Beersheba and Abraham settled in Beersheba story ends

Whoo. It's kind of an intense one, ain't it? Oh, by the way, there's kind of a postscript to this story that seems almost out of place in Verses 20 to 24

Now after these things Abraham was told Milka has also born sons to your brother Nahor as his first born his brother bars

Kemuel the father of Aram Kessid Hazel Pildash Jidlaf and Bethuel and Bethuel fathered

Rebekah Milka bore these eight to Nahor Abraham's brother his concubine whose name was

Ruma also bore Tamar, Gaham, Tehash and Marker What does this have to do with the story? If you ask that question trust me

I did too this week, it's like I Feel like this needs to be like chapter 23

Why is this here? On the first consideration, it seems like it's come out of nowhere

But remember what we've said a few times about Moses as the human author of Genesis That Moses writes this narrative with a high level of composition

He puts things in key places and sets up stories in the future early on If you're the writing your

Bible type, which I think everybody should be You might want to write Genesis 24 next to this section

Because Rebekah who gets singled out in verse 23 and Bethuel her father are gonna play a very big role in chapter 24.

Oh And they're gonna play a big role in Isaac's life You see the point of this section being here is this

God hasn't forgotten about Isaac and now the story is gonna start to transition away from Abraham and towards Isaac And so that's being set up by these final words in this little

PS section in verses 20 to 24. I'm pretty much done

That was a lot. It's an intense chapter Let me just boil it down to two things and I'll be done

If you're here today and you're a believer The reality is the testing of faith is gonna come for you at some point The testing of your faith will happen at some stage it might already be here it might be around the way soon it might still be a way away, but the reality is that door will knock one day and the question becomes when that door knocks and You inevitably have to answer

How will you answer it? Will you answer it in kind of holding on and clinging on and saying no, no, no good

God. No, no No, we are not doing this Or will it be with the open hand of faith that says

God, I don't know what's about to happen, but I I trust you. I trust your word and I trust your promises

Let's go together But here's the second thought I'll leave you with as I close ultimately the the testing of our faith only makes sense

When we see it in the light of the fulfillment of God's promise it only makes sense when you come to it with full faith and trust in God's providence and And here's the reality in case you like me

I'm sure you have moments like this too when you have moments where you're tempted to doubt The ability of God to bring you through the moment of testing

Remember I told you about this story isn't yes, it's about Abraham and the binding of Isaac But it's not ultimately about them

Now ultimately should point if ever you worry about what God is doing in the moment of testing All you have to do is look at the biggest moment of test that took place

Look at the cross and ask yourself. What did God do there? What has he done through that and Hopefully that should help us to put the tests and the triumphs even of faith into proper perspective and father

We thank you so much that your word indeed does give us proper perspective That we are never left to figure out

What it is that you are doing through the trials that we go through We know ultimately that you are using them for so many reasons

One of which is you're using them to confirm the faith that we have in you father,

I pray what James says in James 1. I Pray that we would allow endurance to have its complete work

That we would consider reckon count It's all kinds of joy when we go through periods of trial

Knowing that for those of us who are in Jesus the trial might bend us, but it will not ultimately break us

And I pray for anybody who doesn't know Jesus Pray that they would come to the foot of the cross

That they would give up their attempts to understand life on their own terms and they would come to the

Lord Jesus in faith As the old hymn says nothing in my hands.

I bring Simply to his cross I come Father help us that the words that we have heard would not just Enter our ears in one place and come out the other

May your spirit use what has been preached To strengthen or even to create faith in the