Worship, Part 1 (Abraham) — Bruce Rodgers

Hebrews chapter 11 and let's read verse 17. By faith Abraham when he was tried offered up Isaac and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son of whom it was said that in Isaac shall thy seed be called accounting that God was able to raise him up even from the dead from whence also he received him in a figure.

Christ’s Exclusive Worship in the Wilderness

Now we're going to go back to the book of Genesis but before we do let's just notice a brief passage in Matthew chapter 4. Matthew chapter 4 and we will be breaking into the temptation by the devil of the Lord Jesus in the wilderness.

Matthew 4 and verse 8 and again the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain and showeth him all the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them and saith unto him all these things will I give thee if thou will fall down and worship me.

Then saith Jesus unto him get thee hence Satan for it is written thou shalt worship the Lord thy God and him only shalt thou serve. Now let's go back to the book of Genesis to chapter 22. Genesis chapter 22 starting at verse 1.

Abraham’s Test on Mount Moriah

Genesis 22 verse 1 I'm going to have to ask you to do a strange thing. I'm going to ask you to try to read this as if you had never read it before. One of the problems we run into when we are very familiar with certain passages of the scripture is that we barely pay attention to it when we read it because we think we already know what it says.

So I want to just encourage you to think about the details as we read them. Genesis chapter 22 verse 1 and it says and it came to pass after these things. So we'll notice a little later what these things refer to.

That God did tempt Abraham and said unto him Abraham and he said behold here I am and he said take now thy son thine only son Isaac whom thou lovest 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.

And Abraham rose up early in the morning 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.

Then on the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place of far off and Abraham said unto his young men abide ye here with the ass and I and the lad will go yonder and worship and come again to you.

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 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 and Abraham said my son God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering.

So they went both of them together 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 and Abraham stretched forth his hand and took the knife to slay his son.

And the angel of the Lord called unto him out of heaven and said Abraham Abraham and he said here am I and he said lay not thine hand upon the lad neither do thou anything unto him for now I know that thou fearest God seeing thou hast not withheld thy son thine only son from me 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 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.

And the angel of the Lord called unto Abraham out of heaven a second time and said by myself have I sworn saith the Lord for because thou hast done this thing and has not withheld thy son thine only son 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 seashore and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed because thou hast obeyed my voice.

So Abraham returned unto his young men and they rose up and went together to Beersheba and Abraham dwelt at Beersheba. I want to speak to you tonight about the subject of worship. Now about six years ago brother Stu Thompson and I were asked to take up this subject at a conference and Stu was asked to look at words of worship and I was asked to take up acts of worship.

And it really was one of the best things that ever happened to me to have to look at this subject from this perspective and it has been very to me very personally enriching to think about what worship really is.

Worship as the Supreme Prize

And there's a there's an issue that is raised in in Matthew chapter 4 in the temptation in the wilderness that I just want to draw attention to before we get into a story of Abraham. And there you have Satan who obviously I was gonna say he's no fool but I suppose you could call him the greatest fool in one sense because he wants to be God he wants to have God's place he wants to be first he wants to be worshipped.

But he made this offer to the Lord Jesus knowing that he's God's Son and he shows them everything that there is in the world all the kingdoms of the world all the glory of it. And he says I'll give you all of it I'll give it to you if you will fall down and worship me.

Now what that triggers in my mind is the recognition that worship must be the ultimate prize of the universe. If Satan was willing to hand over everything to Christ if only he could have his worship it must be the most desirable thing the most significant thing that anyone can do towards another person.

Do you have anybody that worships you. Well probably for most of us it was our dog licking our hand looking up at us adoringly willing to do anything we asked it to if only it could be with us. You know a dog is one of those wonderful creatures that makes people feel important and significant.

Faithfulness love commitment all the things that we wish we could have from somebody significant but in all seriousness I've come to appreciate a little bit more I think through looking at the subject that worship is really the most significant thing about us.

And the Lord Jesus gave an answer that we read and maybe think of very very casually of course he would say thou shalt worship the Lord thy God and him only shalt thou serve. But if you could appreciate the cost to the Lord Jesus to say those words because he is going to have the kingdoms of the world he is going to have universal authority and power and control over everything he's going to receive it from the hand of the father but not before he gives up everything in devotion to the father.

And he will not accept the same offer from someone else without suffering. And so the Lord Jesus shows this absolute commitment and recognition of God of his worthiness that is worth going to a cross and paying for the sin of everybody else that exists now I want to think with you in Genesis chapter 22 and we're going to just refer to Hebrews 11 as it may be relevant to the passage and I hope possibly to be able to look at a little bit about Job as well but it will be just a little bit of a sidelight at the end.

Trust as Pure Worship Under Trial

And really what I want to emphasize is the decision of Abraham as well as Job to worship God under extreme trial. And there's a quotation that I'm going to give you again I'm sure I have given it to you here because I've given it many times in many different settings.

A dear older preacher named Arnold Adams had many quaint and rich spiritual sayings and one of them has always appealed to me. And it is this that trust is pure worship. And I hope you'll be able to appreciate by the end of the meeting at least something of what that means.

And what I want you to to try to grasp is that God receives from his people the purest worship when we trust him in a time of trial. Now we usually think of worship as singing praise or bowing in adoration and acknowledgement and and so on when we gather together or maybe privately.

But this is a completely different setting in which Abraham and Job as well bow before God and give to him the place that God is worthy of despite tremendous personal cost. So we want to look at that as we go through this passage now it says in verse 1 it came to pass after these things that God did tempt or test Abraham.

Now you might wonder why does it use the word tempt. Well very simply in both the Old Testament and the New Testament the word to tempt or to test is exactly the same word. And that might sound kind of strange.

There's quite a difference between a temptation and a test. It really is only a matter of who is doing the testing or the tempting. God tests in order to find and to produce what is good. Satan tempts in order to produce what is evil to corrupt to destroy us to test.

And so what does it mean that after these things. Well the background is very important and if you were to go back in chapter 21 you would learn there that Abraham had already been through some kind of experience similar to this where his first son Ishmael is sent out of the house he's kicked out he's sent away from home he's disinherited you might say and that must have been a tremendously painful thing for Abraham to go through.

But he went along with it. He accepted this breakup of the family and the sending away of a loved son in order that God's promise of the seed which is Isaac that that spiritual line of promise would be unchallenged but there be no rivals to Isaac in the purposes of God.

And so Abraham has already endured a tremendous test of being willing to give up someone naturally very very close to honor God and his purposes to accept the will of God and his purposes of promise. So he sacrificed the natural in order to fulfill the spiritual.

And I would have to wonder if in our lives whether we ever get that far in our in our worship of God do we ever get even that high to be willing to sacrifice what is natural in order to be or to fulfill what is spiritual for God.

So Abraham has already gone through many serious trials and that was the most severe. But when we come to this passage and this is really probably 20 years later but it's put into this same context and now what what is God saying to him he says take now thy son thine only son Isaac.

And if you listen carefully and read it carefully as we went through it there's three times in these verses that the Lord refers to your son your only son the one you love and so he's highlighting his awareness of this enormous demand that he is placing upon Abraham.

Now I want to think through a number of principles that relate to the subject of worship that we find either declared or implied in this passage and I'm just going to try to go through them with you and we'll try to notice these ideas as we see them in the passage.

Worship Founded on Divine Revelation

First of all I should mention that this is actually the first time that we have the word worship in our English Bible. I would have to admit that in chapter 18 the same word in the original Hebrew is used of Abraham when these three heavenly visitors come to him and he sees them he somehow recognizes that they are heavenly visitors the Lord and two angels and he bows down before them.

And that is the fundamental meaning of the word of the Hebrew word to worship. It means to bow down before so it is an acknowledgment of the greatness of the one that I am before in the New Testament it's a very similar concept.

It actually means towards and to kiss now that's not in a romantic gesture it is as to bow before and to kiss in homage. That's the basic word used in the New Testament although there are several other words as well and so in each case it emphasizes this bowing down an acknowledgment of someone greater than myself.

Now the first thing that I want to to emphasize not only is it the first mention of worship but it is the first mention of love in our Bible. It's very interesting that this should come together in this passage the love of a father for his son and the cost of worship.

So the number one significant principle that I want to start with is that worship must be founded on divine revelation. Now what do I mean by that. Well you just think about the story. This is the kind of story that makes people say you'll turn into a fanatic.

If you read your Bible too much you'll do some bizarre thing. Religion can be pretty dangerous when a man goes and kills his son for the sake of his God. You know something's really wrong. Isn't that right.

Wouldn't rational rational reasoning say this is not only insane it's diabolical to destroy the life of your son out of a supposed worship of a God in Matthew. Or is in John chapter 4 the Lord Jesus when he talks about worship with the Samaritan woman he says they that worship God must worship him in spirit and truth.

In other words you can't just worship God on your terms. You can't simply come to God as you conceive him to be and you worship him as you would like to. It must be a response to who he is and what he has revealed about himself.

And so just to think about this concept here. What if this had simply arisen in the mind and heart of Abraham. What could have been involved. Well there are two issues between us and God that are very very important in every religion attempts to answer these two issues.

The first issue is what can I present to God that will be worthy of who God is. What what can I present to God. And the second issue is what can I give to God to make up for my sin. What can I present to God that will atone for sin and make me right with God.

It's interesting that the scriptures raise this very issue in the book of Micah verses 6 to 8 and I'll just read some of the the language of it. Here's what it says. Wherewith shall I come before the Lord and bow myself before the high God.

Shall I come before him with burnt offerings with calves of a year old. Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams or with ten thousands of rivers of oil. What. What is an adequate gift to present to God that would correspond to his awesomeness to his glory to his greatness.

And then he says in in continuing shall I give my firstborn for my transgression the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul. Now he's wrestling with the issue of what will satisfy God about the harm the damage the iniquity that I have done against his name.

So yes these are real issues between us and God. But as I say Abraham did this because of God's revelation to him. And that makes all the difference even though God himself and other passages declared his abhorrence of human sacrifice.

In fact in one place he says it never came into my mind to demand this of you. God was abhorred. That was the practice of the heathen. And so why does God do this in this passage. Well that's part of the test and part of the outcome of the test that is brought to us at the end.

Faith Responds Through Obedience

So the second point that corresponds to that point is that faith responds in obedience. And this is very interesting. In verse 3 it says. Abraham rose up early in the morning. Would you have done that.

I could only imagine that I would have said I'm going to sit on this for a few days. I've got to be sure this is real. And every time I would look at my son I couldn't imagine taking those steps to begin that journey.

He had lots of time to think lots of time to reconsider to figure out something that would change this outcome. But he rises up early. One of the little speculations that come into my mind when I think about this is wonder what Sarah was thinking.

I have this sneaky suspicion that he didn't tell her or she would never have let him out of the house. At least she would never have let Isaac out. I think you would get that even from the fact that when he goes with the two young men he says just wait here I and the lad will go yonder and worship and return again to you.

I don't think he told anyone. I want to just highlight something. One of the things that affects us very deeply when we're facing a loss like this the loss of a son loss of a daughter a loss of a loved one being torn from us.

One of the things that we long for is someone to be with us who can understand who can enter into it who can go through it with us somehow to at least be there as a friend. Abraham has to carry it all within himself.

No one that he can share this burden with this is between him and God incidentally as well. There are no secondary causes in this incident. It wasn't a sickness that overcame him. It wasn't a murder by somebody else an enemy.

It wasn't some other way. Like as in Job's case there are no intermediate agents. This is God and Abraham counting the cost. I'm sure you've heard if you've been around assembly life very long that worship always has a cost.

But if you're coming on Sunday morning and just gathering together with the Saints and we sing some hymns and we pray and and you feel your spirit being lifted and you are drawn into appreciation and worship towards the Lord.

It's hard to really think that this is some tremendous cost. It's just mostly our joy rather than a cost. How is it a cost. Well in this sense that whatever we devote towards God whether it's my time my heart my love my appreciation devoting my my thoughts toward him I am giving him first place and I am sacrificing other things for him now.

That's a double-edged sword. Because one of the things we're struggling with today is a failure in worship because we are giving other things first place. It may be other people it may be completely selfish interests.

It may be our business our career all things that are important that have a claim upon our time and attention. But in in and through all of that does God hold a priority that is actually the fundamental issue in worship.

You worship God to the extent that you give him priority and allow him first place. So I've already mentioned that God weaves into his request of Abraham this repeated emphasis your son your son your beloved son your only begotten son.

And maybe I should just comment on that quickly coming from Hebrews chapter 11 that's the language that's used in Hebrews 11. He offered up his only begotten son. Yeah but you say that wasn't his only begotten son.

Ishmael was his first son. Isaac is his second son. But at this time Ishmael has been removed and Isaac remains as his only son. But this highlights what the expression really does mean the only begotten son.

And even though it literally means the only one begotten by that father the significance of it means you're one and only you're one and only you're unique one. And in fact in Psalm 22 where we have that prophetic psalm of the forsaken son on the cross in his final appeal to God he says.

Deliver my soul from the sword my darling. Let me read it to you. Because I haven't got it quite right some 22 and verse 20 deliver my soul from the sword my darling from the power or the paw of the dog.

That's strange language to use my darling. The most helpful explanation I have heard to understand that is that in the language of the Lord Jesus as speaking to his father he is quoting the father's words to him deliver my soul from the sword my darling.

And that is actually exactly the same expression as only begotten. So it highlights that the emphasis of the term is not so much on the fact of being an only literally begotten one but as being this one and only one a darling.

Now I know I was just recently out in eastern Canada in Newfoundland first time I'd been there and I found out that they have a habit of calling everybody darling. It's either buddy or darling. If it's a fellow it's buddy and if it's a lady it's darling.

Well let me put it this way you better have just one darling because that's what it means my one and only that's what it means. And so in this in this setting the Lord is acknowledging I am asking from you the very darling of your heart the one who is your unique son.

Faith Reasons from God’s Promises

Now as we go through this passage another thing that is important in thinking of worship is that our reasoning must be controlled by the Word of God and by God's character. There are many ways people think that they can please God and serve God and worship God in their own way in their own terms.

And sometimes it's not in harmony with God's character or his word. But as we think of this passage Abraham did a lot of thinking even though it's hardly it's hardly evident here except for when he says in verse 5 to the young men I and the lad will go yonder and worship and come again to you those are brave words.

Aren't they brave words or are they words of faith. I would take it they're words of faith. And then when Isaac asks the question that Abraham was probably dreading every step of the way when is he going to ask about the lamb.

And they're trudging up the mountain and you have some pretty big hills around here. I wouldn't want to be carrying a heavy load up a mountain. But as they're going up that mountain and Isaac asked this question dad where's the lamb.

We're going up to worship. Where is the lamb. And it seems to me somehow that the Spirit of God must have given Abraham those words to say just in that moment I don't know how he could have said it but somehow he has come to reason out.

God is going to resolve this one way or the other he says God is going to provide. God is going to provide a lamb for a burnt offering. Now in Hebrews chapter 11 it says this that he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son of whom it was said that in Isaac shall I see be called accounting that God was able to raise him up even from the dead from which also he received him in a figure so Abraham reasoned from God's revelation that he'd already received which was what well Abraham had waited for years for this promised son a promise from God that somehow through Abraham and his seed God was going to bring redemption to the whole world.

And God's blessing for humanity was going to be channeled through the seed of Abraham. In your seed will all the nations of the earth be blessed. That's a tremendous promise. Now he finally has the promise seed after waiting years and years and naturally impossible to have children.

And finally the miracle boy is born. And now 20 years later or so God is saying I want him back give him up. And Abraham comes to this reason call it a conclusion of faith. If God is going to take him away he's going to have to give him back because God has said in your seed and in Isaac your seed will be called.

He has already specified that to him. I am going to bless the world. Now if I could emphasize one thing to you tonight it would be this. What God is looking for from you is a faith that is willing to look past death.

Worship That Trusts God Beyond Death

We're all facing death. Sometimes it comes in ways we don't expect and we wouldn't look for. It's one of the hardest things for a father and a mother to take their child to the grave. It's normal for a son or a daughter to have to take dad or mom to the grave.

But we all have to face it is our faith. Is our trust. Is our willingness to honor God able to face death able to meet death. The revelation of God is that God is greater than death and that what he promises to us is actually primarily on the other side of death.

Now of course there is a moment coming when all of that is going to be replaced. When the Lord comes eternity will begin for his people and we will be instantaneously changed and will never have to face the issue of dying.

But until the Lord returns we each in our journey of faith must come to terms with this. And we will have to decide if God is worth trusting if you let us die or if he will let our closest loved one die and we watch their suffering.

Can we accept it. Can we still believe he's good. Can we still honor him and acknowledge his right to do this. Because this is where worship really takes us now. I want you to think about that point because this is where we're coming to in this point where he brings Abraham to this moment where Abraham is committed he reaches for the knife.

You know it's one thing to accept a tragedy happening. It's another thing to know you're the one that has to do it with your own hand. How could God ask so much. How could God think of asking Abraham this.

Why is God doing this. I want you to think about the question of what did God really want what was really in God's heart and mind in bringing Abraham to this point of no return and then stopping him. Did God just finally relent at the end and say okay just forget it.

I won't ask this because God credits Abraham with offering his son. He said. Here's what he says now. I know that thou fearest God seeing thou hast not withheld thy son thine only son from me. He acknowledges that Abraham had surrendered Isaac to him.

Worship Gives God First Place

Could I put it this way to you that worship glorifies God. Worship pleases God because involved in it is this recognition that God is first over everything else. I'm just thinking of it in your own life your own family circle your friends whatever is close to you precious to you.

To acknowledge that God has the right the first claim upon me even before my wife even before my children and my grandchildren. God has the first claim upon my love on my service my obedience. And not only that but on the other side I have to acknowledge that my son or my daughter my wife belongs to him first of all.

And I must yield my right to have to enjoy to be with to possess what is the most precious person to me on earth to my God. No matter how much I think I love that person and how much they love me that person belongs to God first.

This is this is part of what worship is drawing us to. This will willingness to recognize God is first and deserves and is worthy of that prior claim upon us. I think we would all acknowledge that what God really wanted from Abraham was Abraham's heart.

He didn't want to demand his son from him and to force him to yield that son just to prove that Abraham would obey God no matter what the cost wanted his heart. But there's another thing that I think is very it's probably very obvious to us as well.

Abraham as the Friend of God

Not only did God want Abraham's heart but he wanted Abraham as his friend. I haven't emphasized this yet but three times in the scripture Abraham is called the friend of God. In 2nd Chronicles Jehoshaphat in a time of national crisis appeals to God and the promise of God that they are the seed of.

He says Abraham your friend now that's a thousand years later. He says Lord I want you to take care of us and keep these enemies out of the land. You gave it to us because we're the seed of Abraham your friend.

Wouldn't it be something if if our relationship to God meant enough to God that he would care about our descendants a thousand years later. And his promise to fulfill God's will for us a thousand years later the Lord himself another hundred years after that assures the nation by talking about you're the seed of Abraham my friend.

How much does it matter that God would look at you as a friend. What I'm really getting to is what is a friend. What is it about a friend. Well a friend is someone that you can fight in someone that you know and that knows you.

And they might you might not even have to say anything. You walk in and they know what you're thinking. They know what you're feeling. That closeness that confidence that companionship. What was God wanting Abraham to know.

Well it all comes together when we think of the lamb God providing for himself a lamb and only son. This is the story of the cross. And it should be so touching to us to understand that what God was bringing Abraham to the very cliff edge you might say of an experience was to know Abraham.

This is what I'm going to do for you and for all of humanity. This is how in your seed all the nations are going to be blessed. I'm going to give my only son. I am going to have to do it. Yes men took Christ to Calvary men put him on the cross and they physically nailed him there.

But the transaction that brings salvation was not merely the crucifixion but the bearing of judgment. And only God could lay that on his son. And so you have a father in heaven opening up the heart of a broken-hearted father on earth and helping him to understand the deepest secret of eternity.

I think that's what the Lord Jesus was getting at in John chapter 8 when he says Abraham rejoiced to see my day and he saw it and was glad you might say this this experience is worth that. Yes it is so worship results in deeper intimacy and fellowship with God.

Worship’s Reward in God’s Blessing

If you want to really please God you become a worshiper. And you see not only does it result in deeper intimacy but God rewarded him. And this revelation of the redemption redemptive purpose in his own son is part of that reward.

But let's just look at the what he says a second time verse 16. By myself have I sworn saith the Lord. For because thou hast done this thing and has not withheld my son thine only son that in blessing I will bless thee.

And in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven and the sand which is upon the seashore. Now just to look at these. I've so often have looked at this and just sort of bunch it all together.

You know a wonderful sounding promise of blessing. But just think about what it's what he's really saying. God is an infinitely great God. He is rich beyond all comprehension. He is able to bless. He is able to bring into blessing.

And he says in blessing I will bless you. In other words in God's blessing to humanity he says Abraham you're going to be right in the center of it. You are going to be in the focal point of my blessing now.

That'd be a pretty good promise wouldn't it. You know whenever I'm gonna bless you're going to be you're gonna be right there in the center of it. But then he says in multiplying I will multiply your seed.

You yielded up to me one seed. You're one and only Isaac I'm going to take now and multiply your seed till it's like the stars and like the sand. Now it could be referring to the heavenly and the earthly lineage of Abraham.

You can appreciate that. I heard somebody say that there may be as many stars out there in the universe as there are grains of sand by the seashore. Now I have no way of knowing that. But as you know there are billions of galaxies and every galaxy has billions of stars.

It is a virtually infinite number. And God has said to this man you gave me one. I'm going to make it billions. So is it worth it to worship God. Is it worth it to sacrifice something to him to hand it over to him in honor of who he is and what he is.

I will reward you. And I am sure of this there is nothing that God ever calls you to suffer or to lose. And if you will are willing to accept it and are willing to keep trusting him he will honor that faith as pure worship.

Because when you trust him you are showing him what you think of him. And Abraham passed the test and Abraham has had the joy of seeing God's promise be fulfilled. And it's going to be fulfilled and going to be fulfilled.

I don't believe God has finished yet the ages upon ages to come are going to show the riches of the goodness and the glory of God in which Abraham will be able to rejoice in God his friend what a rejoicing.

As they look at that ultimate seed of Abraham the Lord Jesus the glory of heaven. He's soon going to be the glory of the earth and he's going to be worshipped everywhere. And as we will honor him we will be in harmony with the God of blessing.