The Test

You have your Bible. Go and make your way to Genesis

Genesis 22 · chapter mention

chapter 22 as we continue in our series answering the call of

God. We took the 1st 11:00-ish

chapters of Genesis a couple years ago.

We've been embarking upon the second chunk of about 12

chapters now for a few months and we'll conclude this series

here in the next Sunday or two is we're going to turn our

attention if you're interested in where we're headed.

So you can be praying for me and us as a church about this but

special time of the year and after 250 years in the light

life of our nation is coming up. And I'm going to be doing a

series at the end of June and month of July called under God

Biblical truths that have forged our nation.

And I just believe this is a moment to take an opportunity as

believers to look at the at the Scriptures of what God has done

in the life of our nation. What has God called us to do as

citizens of heaven and of earth, of this nation and one day

ultimately now and forever the Kingdom of God?

How do we steward biblical citizenship?

How do we stand for the truths of Scripture as believers in our

country and beyond? So there, there's a lot there

and we're going to we're going to be there for five or six

weeks and I'm just praying the Lord would use that in the life

of our church as we celebrate even a very special time as a

nation. Then we're going to be turning

our attention. I'm praying about the book of

Titus. If you want to read ahead, we're

going to spend in the first six weeks of the fall in the book of

Titus going back to the New Testament.

So which is our typical, we typically work in the Old

Testament back to the new as we seek to preach the whole counsel

of God's word. We want a steady diet of all the

different parts of Scripture is all in every part point to

Jesus, preach the gospel and instruct us in life and in

living. So that's a little foreshadowing

of where we're going today. I want to start with a question.

What if? What if all you had to do to

make an A in a class was complete all the homework and

then simply to the teacher when you had completed all the course

content and simply report, I've mastered the course curriculum.

I deserve an A. What if that's all you had to

do? We'd all have straight As,

wouldn't we? Glory Hallelujah.

Yeah. And yet that's not the world we

live in. That's not the kind of teachers

we've had or have. That's not the kind of schools

that we go to. Teachers don't take our word for

it. They administer tests to see

what is in fact true. And test can come in all shapes

and sorts and sizes. There can be small tests like

these little pop quizzes. I never did like those.

There can be medium sized tests that come about once 1/4 that

contribute a little more to our grade.

Then there's bigger tests that really make up the majority of

our grade, kind of like midterms and finals.

Tests come in all sorts of shapes and sizes.

Genesis 22 is like a final exam in Abraham's life that doesn't

come till almost the end of his life and is yet going to count

for a lot of his final great. Genesis 22 is a test that's

going to expose the deepest part of Abraham's heart.

Now, if you cook it all, especially if you grill, you

realize that you can see something that looks totally

done on the outside, but yet be very undone on the on the

inside. So unless you're a professional

or just have lots of experience, of which I'm not a professional.

In fact, I remember the days when I had the knife in hand and

my hamburger, steak or chicken, especially chicken.

What am I going to do before I take it off the grill, Cut into

it, check and see? That's not what a professional

does nowadays. There's things that have come

along allowing me to think I'm a professional when I'm really

not. But I don't have to have a knife

in hand when I can have, if you have something like this called

a thermopen. So this allows the amateurs to

cheat. And what I can do is no matter

what it looks like on the outside, I can instantly know

what its exact condition is on the inside the moment I stick

the needle in to the inside of my meat.

And right now it's telling me the air is 70° right here where

I stand. You know, if I was on a desert

island and I can only have a few things, my Bible, a knife, a

lighter, and maybe my thermapen, to know if the meat I just

haunted and killed was ready for me to eat.

All right, I wouldn't. I don't leave home without this

thing. I camp with this thing.

I live with this thing I love. I love this thing.

You know, the deal is is Genesis 22 is going to be like God

taking his spiritual thermapen and inserting it into Abraham's

heart to test and see if his faith is rare, medium or well

done, whether on the inside matches the maturity that it

appears to have on the on the outside.

And and then, just in case you're wondering, this test will

not be easy. The test as as it as it looks is

going to what it's going to hurt as God test his faith.

Listen to Genesis 22 verses one through 8.

After these things God tested Abraham and said to him Abraham

he said here I am. He said take your son, 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

of which I shall tell you. So Abraham rose early in the

morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with

him and his son Isaac, and he cut the wood for the burnt

offering, and arose and went to the place of which God had told

him. On the third day Abraham lifted

up his eyes and saw the place from afar.

And then Abraham said to his young men, Stay here with the

donkey, I, and the boy will go over there and worship, and come

again to you. And 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.

And so they went, both of them together.

And Isaac said to his father, Abraham, my father.

And he said, Here I am my son. And he said, Behold the fire and

the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?

Abraham said. God will provide for himself the

lamb for a burnt offering, my son.

So they went, both of them together.

After all this time, after all this waiting, after all these

years, after all the blessings and protection and provision and

the fulfilling of the promises of God, most of all that finally

a son would be born to Abraham and Sarah in their old age had

come to pass. The Bible says God tested

Abraham. The word Nisa in the Hebrew

means here, tested it is. The idea here is to reveal the

authenticity, the genuineness of something to reveal reality.

Now what I want you to keep in mind here right out of the gate

is that we know something that Abraham doesn't know.

God didn't shake Abraham awake on this day and say, Abraham, by

the way, today I'm going to test you.

Now how nice would that have been had Abraham known all

along? It was a Abraham does not know

that you and I know that he doesn't know that.

All he hears is God calls his name and gives him instructions,

to which he says, here I am. And then Abraham hears God say

something that sends chills down his spine, that makes his

stomach rise to his throat and causes him to break out in a

cold, adrenaline driven sweat. What is it that makes this test

so difficult? Well, there's a few things.

Let me just name them so we're clear.

Number one, what makes this test so difficult is who it involves.

We're talking about the son, the only son, the son of promise

after years of waiting, son, the son born to the impossible

situation, son Isaac, the son whom he loves more than anything

else in life. This test is difficult number

one, y'all, because it involves the most valuable thing in

Abraham's life #2 it's difficult because of what it involves.

God, are you asking me to worship you by killing my son?

God? Are you asking me to worship you

by offering a child sacrifice like all the pagans do?

Because that's what it sounds like.

Not only is this test difficult because it involves the most

valuable thing in Abraham's life, but this test is difficult

because it involves the most unthinkable thing that Abraham

could ever do in life. This flies in the face of

everything Abraham has ever considered, never heard or

thought about God. It's who it involves, it's what

it involves, and it's how it doesn't make sense #3 it's how

it doesn't make sense. It contradicts everything he

knows about the character and nature of God.

This test, if you will, involves the most valuable thing in his

life, the most unthinkable thing in his life, and thirdly, the

most confusing thing in his life.

Do you see now why this test is so difficult?

What's even more shocking to me is what you don't hear Abraham

say. Because if I got God on the line

and I heard something like that, I think I would say God.

Could you repeat that again? God, I think you broke up.

God, I think I misunderstood you.

God, for the third time, could you simply say what the

instruction was? Again, you don't hear Abraham

question at all. It's obvious Abraham knows

exactly who has spoken and he knows exactly what God has said.

So verse 3, Abraham arose early in the morning, saddled his

donkey and took two of his young men with him and his son Isaac.

Now I'm just guessing here, but personally, I don't think

Abraham said a word to Sarah before he left.

Mamas, can I get an Amen? What if over, you know, laying

on the pillow that night right before bed.

Abrams, like honey, God and I talked today and here's what he

said. I don't think he said a word.

I also think it's probably fair to conclude this was the last

father son outing Isaac ever took Abraham up on.

Hey, Abraham, after all this was done.

Hey Isaac, man, you want to go fishing today?

Dad about died last time we hung out.

Think I'm good you go right ahead.

All right, so probably lots going on here.

It's a it's a three day journey. The location was Mount Moriah.

And what's significant here is this is potentially the exact

same mount or at least the exact same region where second

Chronicles 31 says Solomon built his very temple where God would

be worshipped. I want you to see how then

pictures, big pieces of the puzzle of the Bible, are going

to come together and be foreshadowed in this text.

This is going to be the place where God in His temple is going

to dwell and be worshipped. And furthermore, this is not far

away. This is extremely close to

another place, a hill called Calvary, where Jesus the Son of

God would die, would not be speared for you and for me.

When Abraham finally sees the place that what God had told

him, notice what he says to his young men travelling with him

and Isaac. Verse 5 Stay here with the

donkey. I and the boy will go over there

and do what? What are they going to go do?

Worship, Abraham says. And come again to you #1 notice

how Abraham describes what they're going to do.

He says what they're about to do is worship, because a burnt

offering was in fact an act of worship through sacrifice.

And quite honestly, this reminds us of a truth we ought to always

remember as believers, that any type of true worship will always

cost us something. It's interesting talk to some

people about Sunday and they say, well, I just need one day a

week to sleep in Pastor as if worship wasn't going to cost

them something. Well, we're we're really busy.

Pastor got a lot going on. As if worship is not supposed to

cost us something. Sometimes we forget this and we

allow things come into play, take us out of rightly offering

to God on the first day of the week when we wake up, an

offering that's a sacrifice of praise when we could be doing

1001 other things during this time.

But you've chosen to be here as worship always, right?

Worship will always cost us something.

We don't come to worship primarily to get, but to give.

Then notice what Abraham is thinking.

He says here I and the boy will not only worship but come again

to you. Now that's fascinating right

there, right? Because Abraham is giving you

insight into what he's thinking. He's saying here that I believe

even if I'm called to follow through with what God has called

me to do, He's saying right now in faith that I believe if I'm

speaking for Abraham, he's saying I believe God is not

going to break his promise to me.

Remember what that promise was. Your offspring will be named

through Isaac. And if that promise is going to

come true, who's going to have to be alive?

Isaac. So no matter what's about to

happen, Abraham is committed to it and willing to do it.

But he believes no matter what's going to happen, I and the boy,

he says I'm going to, we're, we're going to, we're going to

come back somehow, some way. Abraham is believing God that

Isaac is going to live. You get even more specifics in

the New Testament when you turn to Hebrews Chapter 11, verse 17

Hebrews 11:17–19

through 19, which says this by faith.

Abraham, when he was tested, there's that word again, offered

up Isaac, and he and he who had received the promises was in the

act of offering up his only son, of whom it was said through

Isaac shall your offspring be named.

And he watch this. He considered that God was able

even to raise him from the dead. Let me just remind you, God's

not done that yet in Scripture. Abraham's never seen God raise

anybody from the dead. Abraham's never heard of God

raising anybody from the dead. But what did Abraham believe?

The promises of God which meant no matter what he believed his

son would live even if God had to raise him from the dead.

Verse 6 Abraham straps the wood on his son's back and I just

stop and say I can't help but look forward to a picture when

wood would be laid on another son's back.

Literally a wooden cross by which the Savior would bear on

his back as he headed towards Calvary, where He would be

nailed to. To suffer for you and for me,

paying to send debt for my sin and for yours.

Abraham has the torch of fire in one hand and the knife in the

other. It's then that Isaac asked the

awkward elephant in the room question.

Aren't kids great about asking those kind of questions?

You know they're not socially aware enough to know what

questions not to ask, or they just blurt them out loud.

Don't you know that for the last three days Abraham has wondered

how he would answer this question once Isaac asked it.

God, what am I going to say? God, what do you want me to tell

him? God, what do you want me to do?

I know he's going to ask. It's going to become obvious at

some point. God, what is it?

What am I going to say? And sure enough, God provides

Abraham with exactly what to say.

And his answer was, God himself will provide the lamb.

Literally, it could be rendered. The Lord will see to it is what

it means. God's going to see the need

Isaac and the Lord himself is going to provide, and Isaac

trusted the answer from his earthly father and Abrahams

trusting the answer of his heavenly Father to answer.

Now, if we just zoomed out for a moment from this single story in

the Bible and got to the whole story of the Bible, the question

that Isaac asked his father is the question of the entire Bible

that I see the fire and I see the knife.

But the question of Isaac was, where's the lamb?

That is the question of the Bible.

Where is the Lamb that could possibly take away the sins of

the where? And who could possibly be a

sacrifice that could fully appease the wrath of Almighty

God for the sins of the entire world?

And what is the answer to that question?

The Bible gives the Lord Himself will.

What the Lord himself will provide is the answer.

How so? In that God would so love the

world that he would give his one and only Son, so that whosoever

would believe in him should not have to perish for their sin,

but be saved by faith in him and have eternal life.

That's the message of the Bible. That's the message of the

gospel, that Jesus loves you, has been sent for you, has lived

a sinless life for you, has died for your sin and your place for

you, so that if you by faith could call on His name now, even

now as I speak, you can be saved and made alive, born again and

rescued from what you deserve and given what you don't.

Heaven forever. Have you called on Jesus to save

you because God has answered the question himself.

Where is the Lamb in his one and only Son, y'all?

The first thing that we learn here from this story is this, if

you're taking notes, is that God will test the faith of his

followers. You can mark it down and bet

your life on it. God will test the faith of his

followers. You call?

What do you mean? God test our faith often by

calling us to obey him in ways that may not make sense.

You see those of us who believe in the Lord Jesus, yes, we claim

to obey God's word, or at least we agree that we're willing to

obey God's word. But guess what God often test to

see To what extent are we willing to obey God's word when

the Lord commands us to make some costly sacrifice or to do

some task that he's called us to that we don't want to do that

doesn't make sense. It may be confusing this

impossible seeming or unreasonable.

How willing are we to obey? Passing the test y'all looks

like holding nothing back from. God but in total full fate and

surrender just like Abraham did, looking to God to provide and

saying yes, whatever God ask of us, trusting the Lord will

provide, but God will test the fate of his followers.

Follow along with me as we pick up in verse 9.

When they came to the place of which God had told him, Abraham

built the altar there and laid the wood in order.

And he bound Isaac his son, laid him on the altar on top of the

wood. And then Abraham reached out his

hand, and he took the knife to slaughter his son.

But the Angel of the Lord called to him from heaven, and said,

Abraham, Abraham. And he said, Here I am.

He said, Do not lay your hand on the boy, or do anything to him,

for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not

withheld your son, your only son, from me.

And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, behind

him was a ram caught in a thicket by his horns.

And Abraham went and took the ram, and offered it up as a

burnt offering instead of his son.

So Abraham called the name of that place.

The Lord will provide, as it is said to this day, on the mount

of the Lord, it shall be provided.

Can you imagine with me just for a moment?

At that time, when the altar was completed by Abraham, the wood

had been arranged, the fire was ready, the knife was in his

hand, but there was no obvious sacrifice.

Now the Bible doesn't tell us this, but it doesn't read like

Isaac was watching and Abraham there had to be cunning and sly

to lay the last piece of wood and make sure Isaac was real

close so he could just snatch him before he ran.

It doesn't seem like Abraham has to do any jiu jitsu moves to

take down his son and cuff him to put him as an unwilling

sacrifice. And it doesn't read that way,

does it? Surely young man could have fled

or fought old man had he wanted to.

Abraham's old right here. It reads as if there was no

struggle, reads as if there was no fight or flight.

It reads just like another Son of God would offer himself

willingly on a cross, saying not my will, but thy will,

Understanding fully what he was about to face, having sweat

drops of blood the night before, having asked father if this cup

could pass from me, Let it pass, but not my will, but thy will.

It seems Isaac was a willing vessel.

So with Isaac bound and with knife in hand, it's the moment

of truth. Three days have led up to this

moment. Abraham.

There with knife in hand and arm extended, just before the death

blow falls a voice from heaven. Abraham, Abraham, here I am.

Don't lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him for now.

I know that you fear God seeing you have not withheld your son,

your only son, from me. From a human standpoint, Isaac

was as good as dead. Zaca, what do you mean?

What I mean is Abraham was absolutely and totally

committed. The knife was milliseconds from

dropping. Isaac was as good as dead.

Abraham was all in, but from a divine standpoint, Isaac was

protected from all harm. In fact, although he didn't

suffer a scratch, he was essentially brought back from

the dead by God's intervention. Abraham was completely obedient

to God's command, even willing not to spare his own son in

obedience to his heavenly Father, which his act

highlights. The act of our heavenly Father,

who was in fact not willing to spare his only son out of love

for you. In fact, when Paul writes in

Romans 832 is as if he writes it in light of Isaac being spared,

but Jesus not being listen to what he says.

He says he that's God the Father, who did not what spare

his own son, but gave him up for who?

Us all, including you and me. How will he not also with him

graciously give us all things? You see, God spared Abraham's

only son, but out of love for you and me, He did not spare his

only son so that we could be sons and daughters of the King.

That's what Paul means when and that's what he, John describes

the depth of the love of God. Notice that as a result of his

obedience to give God what was most precious to him.

Notice what God says. He says, Abraham, now I know

that you fear God. That's interesting, right?

Because what I want to ask is, did Abraham not already fear

God? Had he not been walking

faithfully with God? What does it mean to fear God?

Well, certainly it means to believe God, to have one's faith

in God, to have one's loyalty and love and affection and

surrender obedience and honor and respect and all the things

right. It is to relate to God is God.

That's what it means to fear God.

And yes, certainly Abraham was a man who did fear God and was

living according to that fear. But what does God mean when he

says, now I know that you fear God, Let me tell you what he

means. He means now I know because

you've proven by your actions. And by the way, God already

knows. So it's not so much just that

God knows, it's that Abraham knows too.

Now that I know, Abraham, by your actions.

There's nothing truly higher, Abraham.

There's nothing greater Abraham. There is nothing in your life

you hold higher, bigger, better, more valuable than than me.

In other words. Now, Abraham, I know you fear me

and are more loyal to me. You love me.

You value me more than you do anything else, more than what

was most valuable to you. You've honored me, Abraham.

You've passed the test. Friends, This is God's goal for

every single one of us. What do I mean by that?

I mean God's goal is for us to live at the point of absolute

surrender to Him, that nothing higher, nothing greater, nothing

more valuable in our lives than Him willing to follow at all

costs. But can I be honest with you and

you? And I know this is true.

Unfortunately, many Christians don't live at that point, do

they? Case in point reminded me, I was

so encouraged by a young man that we baptized a week ago.

Remember, if you were in that service, that young man's

testimony was that he had been saved as an 8 year old boy.

But it wasn't until he was 16, if I remember his age right, I

think he's about 15 or 16. The December 22nd of 2025 is

when he went all in with Jesus. So what does that mean?

That means he went from just knowing Jesus as his Lord and

Savior to saying, God, I'm going to live by holding nothing more

valuable in my life than you, God.

Everything in my life is going to be secondary to you, God.

I'm going to Matthew 633. I'm going to seek first the

Kingdom of God and your righteousness, and then I'm

going to let everything else in life come secondary to that.

That's what a lot of Christians don't do on the daily.

And this is what God wanted to accomplish in Abraham's life.

Abraham, you're fearing me, you're walking with me.

We know each other. But guess what?

I want you to know me more and I want you to prove through your

actions to yourself and obviously to me.

But I already know that you're a man who holds me as most

valuable and most precious than anything else you could in life.

Y'all sooner or later this type of test will come in your life.

I can about guarantee it came for Abraham here.

Do you remember when it came for Peter?

Do you remember after Peter had denied Jesus three times and it

was after the resurrection? And Jesus appears to the

disciples on the beach after all night of fishing and Jesus walks

up to Peter and they have a conversation in John 15, John 21

John 21:15–17

verses 15 through 17. And he looks at Peter and says,

Peter, do you love me more than all of these?

Peter, are you going to be willing to walk away from

everything and anyone else to do what I've called you to do?

Peter, do you love me more than these three times?

Peter, do you fear me more than you fear anything else in life?

It came for me when I was a sophomore in college.

For me, it involved my call to preach.

It doesn't involve for everybody a call to preach, but it

certainly did for me because again, I was a young man who had

gotten saved at 9 years of age. I knew the Lord Jesus as my Lord

and Savior. I was growing in my walk with

Christ. But when God called me to give

him my life's dreams and ambitions and goals, when God

called me to entrust to him all the future that I could ever

think, to hope and dream and pursue and have and say, God,

I'm going to lay that secondary to your call on my life.

Guess what I did not want to do is give God what was most

valuable to me. In other words, I was living as

a Christian, but holding on to something more valuable at the

time, momentarily, than God's will in my life.

That's where a lot of Christians get stuck.

They know Jesus may be a sword and savior, but they're not

willing to live like God is truly the most valuable thing on

the planet. They're just not.

And you could get stuck there and not pass this test, God told

Abraham. Now I know that you fear me,

Abraham. Now I know my will is being

accomplished. Now I know what's on the inside

is as mature and well done as what's on the outside.

And let me just ask you, has this test come for you?

How have you fared on the test? Do you realize that if you don't

pass the test, God often will retest anybody?

Like makeup test? I never liked makeup test.

And God won't give other tests typically until we pass initial

test number verse 13. Abraham lifted up his eyes and

looked, and behold, behind him was a ram caught in the thicket

by his horns. You could call it a coincidence,

but you would be badly mistaken for there are no such things.

I may be wrong, but I don't think the ram was there until

the exact moment when Abraham needed it.

And it's not like he had to get out.

His binoculars had even had any of those in those days.

He just had to look up and see. Just look up and notice he

didn't have to go hunting for it.

God's provision showed up right when he needed it.

So Abraham takes the ram. God provided offers.

Is it a burnt offering? Verse 14 he called the name of

that place. Here it is.

The Lord will provide as it is said to this day on the mount of

the Lord shall be provided. Don't you remember how he

answered his son's question when he asked, Hey, I see the fire, I

see the wood. You got the knife, Dad, where's

the lamb? God will provide himself the

lamb, Abraham said. Abraham didn't know how God

would provide, he just believed God would.

And when he did, Abraham named the place Yahweh Yaira or as

kind of transliterated a little bit more modern times, Jehovah

Jireh, the word provide in the Hebrew literally to see perhaps

best rendered literally like this.

The Lord will see himself and provide himself.

And then Abraham makes a statement that such a picture of

the future on the mount of the Lord.

It shall be provided on the mount called Calvary.

God would provide for your greatest need and mine with His

one and only Son whom He would not spare, for all who would

believe and place their faith in Him.

On that mount in Abraham's day, and on that mount when Christ

gave His life for us. God has provided #2 in the midst

of the test, God will always provide.

In the midst of the test, friends, you can mark it down.

God will always provide. Y'all.

It's one thing to believe facts about God.

Well, it is another thing to experience God first hand.

This is really the reason why God test you say.

Listen, it doesn't make sense to me.

God doesn't need a Thermopen, does he, Kyle?

No, but we do. So here's the deal.

Like I could explain to you all the logical, rational reasons to

believe in a creator. There's a lot of them.

I mean, just being frank, I believe it takes far more faith

to believe in a bang than it does in a Creator.

I could explain to you the historicity of Jesus.

Scholars don't argue that a man by the name of Jesus who

impacted the world, walked this earth.

That's not argued, changed history.

I could talk to you about all the reasons why we ought to

trust the reliability and the veracity and the authenticity of

the Scripture. I I could, but you realize none

of those reasons are the ultimate reason I call myself a

Christian. Now all those have been

instrumental. All those are vital.

But the primary reason I call myself a Christian is not

because of a set of facts, but because of a set of first hand

experiences I've had with God himself calling me my by name.

Not that I heard it audibly, but when he convicted me of my sin

and I knew I needed a Savior. When I've seen Jesus be faithful

to me and change me and make me somebody that I'm not naturally.

When I've seen God provide for me and guide me and call me and

all the things over 41 years, that's why I am who I am and why

I believe what I believe. And so is your faith gone from a

set of facts to first hand experience.

This is why God will test you, not so that just He can know,

but that you can know how good He is.

In fact, let me just put it like this.

This test was a test for Abraham, was it not?

But consider this it was far more a test for God.

Could God be trusted to provide? Could God be trusted not to

break his promises when it looked like He was?

Could God be trusted when life hurt When this was inserted in

Abraham's heart? Could God be trusted that he was

still good when he was undergoing pain a father

probably could not express and didn't tell Mama about?

Could God be trusted? God was the one ultimately on

the line for the test. And this is often why God puts

us in situations not so that we that he can so much know, but

there's so we can experience how good he is even when

circumstances want to appoint us or we want to be tempted to not

believe or we want to be tempted to think God's God's, God's

going AWOL, God's disappeared, God doesn't love me anymore,

God's not really good. God's holding out on me.

And we can find out just how good God is for ourselves.

When God takes this and sticks it in our heart, it doesn't feel

good, but we learn how good God is when he does and we see and

realize that faith has been fully formed and who we truly

fear in our lives. I'm going to read verses 15

through 19. I'm going to make a couple

comments and I'm going to be done.

And the Angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time from

heaven, and said by myself, I have sworn, declares the Lord,

Because you have done this, and have not withheld your son, your

only son, I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply

your offspring as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is

on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess

the gate of his enemies. And in your offspring shall all

the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed

my voice. So Abraham returned to his young

men, and they arose and went together to Beersheba.

And Abraham lived in at beersheba #3.

Obedience that passes the test brings blessing.

Obedience that passes the test brings blessing.

You see what God does here? Reaffirm all the promises that

Abraham had already heard. And what's happening here is

that Abraham's obedience by fate, there will no longer be,

There won't be any obstacle to the full out pouring of God's

promises and blessings in his life because he's simply chosen

to trust God. Finally, in one sentence, here

it is. God test our faith to prove our

faith and his faithfulness. God test our faith to prove our

faith and his faithfulness. Y'all.

This passage in so many ways is like physical therapy.

Nobody likes to show up for it. It hurts, but it's necessary,

isn't it? This passage is a faith

stretcher, one that may not feel good, but one that does US good.

Tests from God are going to come in all shapes and sizes.

When they do, listen instantly and fully obey.

The longer we delay, the longer the test last.

Let me let me say this. We often give God partial or

delayed or no obedience and then we wonder why our relationship

with God doesn't seem to be progressing.

God's promises fulfilled in our lives flow as the obedience to

God is given and they bring blessing.

Let me finish like this. Often times in our lives when

things from God are difficult or hard, they're confusing, maybe

even unthinkable like Abraham experienced.

And quite honestly, they don't feel good as God is inserting

the needle of a spiritual thermopen in our hearts.

What can happen to us whether we're new Christians or long

time Christians? But especially I'll watch this

with new Christians sometimes as they come to faith and find joy

in life and forgiveness and hope in Jesus and you just watch them

explode with the joy of salvation.

But obviously what does eventually come in life, some

trials, some hard things, and no matter where we are in our

faith, we can wonder where God go.

Is God as good as I thought he was?

Is God really gracious? Is he really in control?

Can I really trust God? Because right now I'm hurting.

This thing's sticking in my heart and I don't even

understand why. It's in those moments that we

learn where we stand in our faith with Him.

But most of all, what we learn if we simply trust Him, is not

so much about our faith, but about His goodness.

Because in those moments when the test comes, God himself is

putting him to the to himself to the test, because He wants you

to know first hand how good He is, how much he can be trusted,

how his grace never fails and his promises never ever fail.

So even when you feel like God's got his thermal pen in your

heart, keep trusting. The test is ultimately more

about his faithfulness to you than yours to him.

But instantly in Philly, obey. God wants you to read, look down

and see, hey, where's your faith?

Medium rare as it is done on the inside, as everybody thinks it

is on the outside, but the test will show as God test our faith

to grow our faith and prove His faithfulness as John and Praise

team lead us in the song of invitation.

Just a moment, here's what I want to ask you to consider.

If God were to stick this in your heart this morning, what

would it say? What would it say depending on

what it says, How do you need to respond?

Is there something you need to give God that you're holding to

more valuable than you hold him? Is it your life?

Is it to receive forgiveness in Jesus as your savior?

Is it maybe the test that has come?

But quite honestly, maybe you need to retake it, or maybe the

test hasn't come, but you just want to come tell God.

God, I want to be ready for wherever you lead.

Whatever you say, I'll go. Here I am.

Help me not to hold anything more valuable than you.

Help me to realize and trust your goodness.

No matter what I go through. I'm going to ask you to respond

as the Lord leads you this morning.

Heavenly Father, God, I pray this morning that you would

speak to each and every heart. God, I pray that you would just

allow us to realize where we are.

God, that if we're holding anything more valuable than you

that we would turn it loose. We cling to you and you would

have your way that you would form our faith fully, you would

prove your faithfulness to us and we would know by first hand

experience truly how good, how great, now awesome you are.

In Jesus name I pray, Amen. Would you stand?

I'll be here. I encourage yours to be close.

We're going to sing and worship together.

You come and respond to the Lord as He leads you this morning.