Hebrews 6 and the Promises of God (Part 2)

Welcome to No Compromise Radio, a ministry coming to you from Bethlehem Bible Church in West Boylston.

No Compromise Radio is a program dedicated to the ongoing proclamation of Jesus Christ based on the theme in Galatians 2, verse 5, where the

Apostle Paul said, �But we did not yield in subjection to them for even an hour, so that the truth of the gospel would remain with you.�

In short, if you like smooth, watered -down words to make you simply feel good, this show isn�t for you.

By purpose, we are first biblical, but we can also be controversial. Stay tuned for the next 25 minutes as we�re called by the

Divine Trumpet to summon the troops for the honor and glory of her King. Here�s our host, Pastor Mike Abendroth.

Welcome to No Compromise Radio ministry. My name is Mike Abendroth and we�re doing this NoCo Facebook Live thing again.

I don�t even really know how to work it. I just push go and then

I need the budget that Todd Friel has. That�s what I need. Todd Friel.

He�s like an evangelical megastar, isn�t he? Come on. Here�s what we�re doing on No Compromise Radio.

I like to talk about the Lord Jesus. That�s why it�s called No Compromise. It started off No Compromise because they don�t want to compromise, and I still don�t.

But then it graduated to Jesus never compromised in His life.

Can you imagine that? He always pleased the Father. And that at the cross, Jesus, of course, as a representative and a substitute, died not for His sins but for our sins, and when

I think about the cross, none of God�s attributes were compromised. That�s why this show is called

No Compromise. When you go to Twitter, that�s where I�m probably on the most. I�m not on Facebook much.

If you write me, I may or may not see it. Maybe Pastor Steve sees it sometimes. But it�s usually just kind of a one -way deal.

I don�t know why it is. I know why it is, but I don�t know why people want to argue on Twitter.

I wish they wouldn�t want to argue on Facebook. Have you changed your mind on anything ever, getting scolded or lectured or argued or debated by someone else?

Frankly, I think the way to change people�s minds is if you take a group of people and they sit underneath the

Word of God, Sunday morning corporate worship, and the frail, sinful pastor is up there preaching away week in and week out, people�s minds will change.

That�s what repentance is, right? To change your mind. But it just happens slowly. And I can�t prove that it happens in some special way on a

Sunday morning, but that�s, I think, what happens. At least maybe anecdotally,

I see that happen or I want it to be true. But I know by experience, therefore it�s true.

I�m just kidding. It will change your mind. You think differently. You think different if you�re from Nebraska and only want to have �different� with two syllables.

Is there a �differance� between �different� and �different�? We�re talking about Hebrews 6, and we�re talking about God as a faithful, promise -keeping

God. That�s what we�re talking about on No Compromise Radio. These shows will probably play next week. Today is

December 1st, Saturday, 5 p .m., and sometimes on Saturdays I like to go to the church and just talk about my sermon.

Tomorrow�s sermon is this passage. And I don�t preach to you on NoCo in a sermon style, that is, yelling, forehead bulging with veins.

No, it�s just a more casual style, it�s a NoCo style, but I�m still processing the material and thinking about it out loud.

And after all, as almost all of you know, this is not my daytime job, and therefore

I don�t want to make it my daytime job. I would want this to just be supplemental to the job.

I don�t get paid to be � what is all this dirt here? Oh, that�s horrible.

I must have stepped in dirt and now there�s dirt all over the studio. That is horrible.

What is going on? The janitors are going to kill me, and then I�m just rubbing it all in.

Oh, brother. Yikes. Talk about never doing something before and now

I haven�t done it. It�s awful. Anyway, I have no idea what

I�m talking about, but something about NoCo, some kind of intro or something like that. Oh, yeah. So, this is not sermon style, but we�re covering material that I, since I don�t manuscript, it�s pretty much, it�s not improvisational.

It�s extemporaneous. That�s what I�m after. Some people manuscript. Some people manuscript some parts of their sermon.

Some people have notes that are very detailed. Some people maybe have like yellow post -its.

Some people have notes that are skeletons. I have a variety of ways to go about it, but I have lots of data, lots of pages.

I have my main points. Those are written out, but the rest, it�s extemporaneous.

That�s why it�s hard to teach this kind of style of preaching, so I have to teach a different style. Part of my radio style is

ADD style because I know that will keep your attention and that�s just the way it goes.

Here�s what�s happening in Hebrews chapter 6. If I were to tell you, is it enough for God to simply say, �This is my word.

If you trust in my Son, you will have eternal life.� That would be enough, would it not?

Yes. But God is gracious and generous and He�s helpful to people who are weak and sinful, and therefore

He gives us His word and then He gives us promises and even oaths so that we trust

Him, that He knows how weak we are. And Hebrews 6 .13

states, �For when God made a promise to Abraham, since he had no one greater by whom to swear, he swore by himself, saying, �Surely

I will bless you and multiply Here on No Compromise Radio, the writer is saying

God is a promise -keeping God, and here he says from Genesis 22, �I�m going to bless you and I�m going to multiply you.�

It is a covenant. It is irrevocable. Genesis 17, he said, �And

I will establish my covenant between me and you, and I will multiply you exceedingly.�

He says, �I�m going to bless you and I�m going to multiply you exceedingly.� Hebrews 12, �Therefore also there was born of one man and him as good as dead as that, as many descendants as the stars of heaven in number, and innumerable as the sand which is by the seashore.�

So God can state His word, and sometimes He does it that way, but then He often gives promises.

He could just say, you know, �I�m giving you an unconditional word. I am a God of truth and a God of fidelity and a

God of integrity.� But here He condescends and He gives us an emphasis of certainty, and isn�t that just like the

Lord, how kind He is and how merciful He is? And he quotes from Genesis 22, and Genesis 22 is the passage that is the backdrop for this particular scenario.

God had promised Abraham a seed, right? We know the ultimate seed. He promised him multiple children, right?

Like stars, sand. And it has been 25 years for that fulfilled promise to take place.

And you can imagine when you go through trials, or you�re in one now, and God has promised you eternal life, and God has promised not to leave nor forsake you.

God has made many promises that He�s blessed you in the heavenly places with every spiritual blessing that you might think to yourself, �It�s not really coming to play like it should.

I�m not seeing all this. There are circumstances that are making me question it.�

And here the writer is saying, �Despite everything, despite how appearances look, despite that your wife is 90 years old,

I�ve still promised you, Abraham, a son, and it�s going to happen, and you need to believe me.�

And of course, we know Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness. So this whole section here is, if you look in your liner notes, let�s see if it�s here in my

ESV study Bible. As I�ve said many times before, I never thought I would like the ESV study Bible.

If you would have told me when it first came out, I would have said, �I don�t like it.�

But I�ve really enjoyed it. Yes, there it is, Genesis 22.

So I think what we�ll do in the rest of the show is let�s look at Genesis 22 and see what is there.

This is the test of all tests, is it not? S .O .S. Johnson calls this the greatest scene in the

Old Testament. When you think about anything greater, it has to be related to the Lord Jesus Christ.

But aside from the Lord Jesus Christ, here we have the greatest scene? Could it be? Could it be the greatest scene?

Every time I go through this passage, I just think about my son. I have one son in whom

I�m well -pleased and whom I love. I love my girls too, don�t get me wrong. But the passage here in Genesis 22 is with a son.

If you have not listened to R .C. Sproul�s message about this, you ought to. Maybe I�ll allude to what he says a little bit later.

It has been, I think, rightly stated that this is the first time test is used in the Bible. It�s the first time love is used in the

Bible. We have a father and a son. And when you think of true love and you think of father and son, you can just extrapolate that out into the spiritual realm and think about father and son, and I think you�re close.

When you look at human, father and love, at least it�s a mirror. It�s a dim mirror, I�ll admit, to the perfect love of God for His Son, God the

Father for His Son, and the Son for the Father, etc. John Calvin said, �This chapter contains a most memorable narrative.

For although Abraham, though the whole course of his life, or through the whole course of his life rather, gave astonishing proofs of faith and obedience, yet none more excellent can be imagined than the immolation of his son, for other temptations with which the

Lord had exercised him tended indeed to his mortification. But this inflicted a wound far more grievous than death itself.�

That�s what John Calvin said. Can you imagine? You�ve got to slay your son, your only son, the future hope, your name, the memorial.

This is a big test. This is one of those �how much do you love me� kind of things.

Peter, do you love me? Do you believe me? And I think it has to do more with believe than love, but we�ll talk about that hopefully later on as well.

Proverbs 23 states, �My son, give me your heart and let your eyes keep to my ways.�

And here we have God to Abraham essentially saying the same thing, �Give me your heart.�

Fascinating. Meyer said, �Here was proof of how much mortal man will do for the love of God.

Here was an evidence of childlike faith, which must have thrilled the heart of the eternal God and moved him in the very depths of his being.�

That is fascinating. This is the language that reminds me of Jesus when he said, �Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me.

Anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is what? Not worthy of.�

True faith tested. Do you really believe the son is offered?

First one of Genesis 22, �After these things, God tested Abraham and said to him, �Abraham, or Abraham rather, and he said, �Here am

I.�� We don't know how much later, how much time has passed after Genesis 21.

God here is immediately recognized by Abraham and he is ready to respond, �Here am

I.� God put

Abraham to the test here. God tested Abraham. And he is going to have to think through a lot of issues.

I wouldn't put tempt here for lots of theological reasons, but this is the test, right?

When you hear that, this is a test. When I was a kid, we had pop quizzes, pop tests, pop exams.

This is not going to be an easy one. Here is what one writer said, �The whole structure of the narrative focuses so strongly on the

Lord's request that the writer apparently sensed the need to dispel any suspicion about the

Lord's real intention. Several features of the narrative serve to keep the reader's attention focused directly on the inward struggle of Abraham as he carried out the

Lord's request, all, we might add, without any mention of the actual thoughts of Abraham's mind.

First, there is the abruptness of the Lord's request within the narrative.�

Don't you see that? Right from the get -go. I mean, it's just like out of nowhere, boom, it happens.

And I think, okay, what's the test going to be?

Verse 2, �Take your son, your only son, and go conquer a nation, whom you love, and go to the land of Mount Moriah, so far so good, and offer, so far so good, him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains on which

I will tell you.� One writer states it this way,

God to Abraham, �Take your son.� Which one, Lord? I've got two. Your only son.

Which one more specifically? Whom you love. Well, I love both my sons. Thank you,

Lord. Now I know exactly who you mean, and what should I do after I go and get him? Is there something that will further your will and purpose in this life?

Go to the land of Moriah. Oh, great, kind of a vacation, a getaway. What then?

Offer him as a burnt offering. You're not really given any warning for this, are you?

I mean, it's just there. How old's the kid?

I don't know. Some people think it could be up to a young man in his 20s, 15, 20, 25.

We're not talking about a little child. But this is the child of promise over and over and over.

Probably is going through his mind. In Isaac shall your seed be blessed. In Isaac shall your seed be blessed.

It might be 25 years old. The Hebrew word, it's elastic.

It can mean all kinds of things. God, I don't think, has talked to Abraham for quite some time.

God shows up, talks to Abraham, years of silence done, and here comes the test, your only son.

Calvin said, as it were not enough to command in one word the sacrifice of his son, he pierces as with fresh strokes the mind of the holy man.

By calling him his only son, he again irritates the wound recently inflicted by the banishment of the other son.

So he's got this three -day journey, and for three days, Abraham gets to think about it.

People think that it's associated with Jerusalem, and that's the site there. This is where Calvary would be over the centuries, thousands of animals would be sacrificed to God there, but only two sons.

Isaac and Jesus. And sacrifice him on one of the mountains,

I'll tell you. This is like, you know, go to a land, I'll tell you, and I'll go to this mountain, and I tell you.

I mean, you don't even know. And this is not some big, you know, parent -child dedication kind of thing.

Do you notice Abraham? He doesn't debate. He doesn't fleece. He doesn't say, if there's 50 righteous people in this city, will you not destroy it?

He didn't say, well, pagan sacrifices happen all the time with humans, but I'm not a pagan, and you're not a pagan god.

What's going on here? He doesn't say, God Leviticus 18 says, do not give any of your children to be sacrificed to Molech.

He doesn't say, well, God Deuteronomy 12 says, and I know, of course, both of those were not written yet, you must not worship the

Lord your God in their way, because in worshiping their gods, they do all kinds of detestable things the

Lord hates. They even burn their sons and daughters in the fire as sacrifices to their gods. Was it right for God to detest

Abraham in this way? Well, of course, because God can do nothing in a wrong fashion, and of course, later we'll know that he, the father, sacrificed his own son in this very same place.

God was not going to ask Abraham to do what he was not willing to do. If you think about 1

John 4, 9, this is how God showed his love among us. He sent his only, his one and only son into the world that we might live through him.

By the way, haven't you noticed when you're reading other Bible translations, and you're not used to the ones that you're reading, you conflate, import, interpose the two translations, and then it just sounds dumb.

Spurgeon, he said, "'The words are all a case of knives cutting at Abraham's soul.

There is scarce a single syllable of God's address to him in the opening of the trial, but seems intended to pierce the patriarch to the quick.

Go, take, go, and sacrifice. Give Isaac back to me.'"

What are you going to tell Sarah on the way home? I mean, come on. But here

Abraham, he's resigned to do God's will. "'Offer him,'

God says, on one of the mountains on which I will tell you.'" It's a three -day journey.

I'll tell you which one to go. Does Abraham do it, or does he not? Verse 3, "'So

Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, took two of his young men with him and his son Isaac, and he cut the wood for the burnt offering.

And he went to the place of which God had told him.'" Van Raad said, "'The details are noted with frightful accuracy.'"

Abraham didn't have to ask other people what their counsel was. God's word was clear.

It's a good side note. When God's word's clear, it's clear. Are we clear? I guess

Abraham was praying on his way. I mean, he interceded with God for Sodom. He's going to sacrifice him.

He's going to have wood, right? He cut the wood. He's going to have a knife.

He's ready. It's not like he says, "'Oh, I just forgot the knife.'" And Abraham's not some kind of hyper -Calvinist.

It's declared, but it's hurting. He's God's sovereign, but he's responsible. "'On the third day,

Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place from afar. Fifty miles later, they arrive.

Abraham said to his young man, "'Stay here with the donkey. I and the boy will go over there and worship and come again to you.'"

Are they going to try to stop him? So you stay here, maybe? And do you notice the text before I go on any further?

"'I and the boy will go over there and worship and come again to you.'"

Was he lying to those servants? Is he tricking them? Is he deceiving them? Well, I don't think so at all.

And here comes the tie -in to Hebrews chapter 6. This is the great tie -in theologically. I am told by God to sacrifice the child of promise, right?

Yes. I'm commanded to slay my son. Yes. Isaac is the one in whom the world is going to be blessed.

Yes. Well, if he's the blessing, if he's the offspring that the blessings are going to come through, and God says,

I've got to kill him, I've got one conclusion. He's going to raise him from the dead, that God will raise Isaac from the dead.

And that's exactly what Hebrews 11 says. By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was in the act of offering up his only son, of whom it is said,

Through Isaac shall your offspring be named. He considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead, from which, figuratively speaking, he did receive him back.

And that's exactly the logic of Abraham. This is what's going to happen.

I know God promised me through the son that the world's going to be blessed.

He told me kill him. Well, he's going to have to be raised up. He's going to have to recover.

He's going to have to be raised. You can see where this is all going. It's all going to point forward, right?

So what happened? On No Compromise Radio, we have to just finish up the story. Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac, his son, and he took in his hand the fire and the knife, so they went, both of them together.

Isaac said to his father, My father, and he said, Here I am, my son. He said,

Behold the fire and the wood, but where's the lamb for a burnt offering? God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.

So they both went together. God will provide.

And Abraham, we know, reached out his hand, took the knife, and the angel said,

Abraham, Abraham, Abraham, Abraham, Abraham, Abraham, Abraham, Abraham, Abraham, Abraham, Abraham. Amazing. Can you imagine?

In his heart, I think it was a done deal. Sacrifice was accomplished. And so we said stop.

No Compromise Radio with Pastor Mike Abendroth is a production of Bethlehem Bible Church in West Boylston.

Bethlehem Bible Church is a Bible teaching church firmly committed to unleashing the life -transforming power of God's Word through verse -by -verse exposition of the sacred text.

Please come and join us. Our service times are Sunday morning at 1015 and in the evening at 6. We're right on Route 110 in West Boylston.

You can check us out online at bbchurch .org or by phone at 508 -835 -3400.