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1:59Then Abraham raised his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him a ram caught in the thicket by its horns. And Abraham went and took the ram and offered him up for a burnt offering in the place of his son. Abraham called the name of that place, the Lord will provide, as it is said to this day, in the mount of the Lord it will be provided. Then 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 thing and not withheld your son, your only son, indeed I will greatly bless you, and I will greatly multiply your seed, as the stars of heaven, as the sand which is on the seashore, and your seed shall possess the gates of their enemies. And your seed, all the nations of the earth, shall be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice.

2:53I love Abraham's life story. He's one of the scripture's most famous and beloved heroes. He really had a Genuine love for people. He went and tried to save the righteous from Sodom and Gomorrah. But he's also a great character because of his relatable failures. The Bible doesn't cut out the bad parts of his life. But Abraham didn't know how his story would end. He was living this in real time. So, as today, as we go through the events, we need to remember that. He didn't read this story over and over again, like we're familiar with. He faced the temptation to disobey what God told him, just as we face the temptation to disobey. He had to override his parental intuition to protect his son and obey what God commanded.

3:42So, in researching this passage, I came across an interesting event. In 2014, in New York City, a synagogue held a mock trial of Abraham based on this passage. They brought him up on charges of attempted murder and endangering the welfare of his son. The defense attorney was Alan Dershowitz, constitutional lawyer and L.J. Simpson's defense attorney. The prosecution was represented by Elliot Spitzer, former New York State Attorney General and governor. During the case, both the sides presented their arguments to the jury. About 1,500 people bought a $36 ticket to be there on that jury.

4:30Unfortunately, either side was not able to call any eyewitnesses to the stand. For the prosecution, Spitzer said, Voices told me to do it. God spoke to me. Really? So we have heard from too many defendants over the years. Maybe Abraham invented this whole divine command story as a pretext to murder his son. And if he did hear voices, he should be committed to the state. In his defense, Dershowitz said that Abraham had to be forgiven because if you believe in the Bible, you must acquit. He reasoned that God had already promised Abraham that Isaac was going to be a great nation, and God would stop the test before it was too late. Well, after all the votes were tallied, Abraham received a not guilty verdict on both accounts.

5:18It was pretty close. It was about 60-40, so it wasn't unanimous. While this was a publicity stunt to get more people to go to a synagogue, it does make you wonder, why would God ask this of Abraham? There's no other story quite like it in Scripture. God already knew Abraham's heart. He knew if he believed him or not. So what can we learn from this passage of Scripture? I believe that God testing Abraham shows us three elements of authentic faith. The first element is authentic faith is based on the word of God.

5:57Verse 1. Now it came about after these things that God was faithful. Tested Abraham and said to him, Abraham, and he said, Here I am. So, after these things, what is he referring to? Well, where are we in history? Abraham was after Noah, but before Moses. So, there was no nation of Israel yet. There's no Ten Commandments. Abraham didn't have the scriptures as we know them, but he communicated with God directly. In Genesis 12, God had called Abraham to leave his home and directed him to go to a foreign land. God promised him to make him a great nation. Remember, he was living this in real time, and that was strange to him because he was already 75 years old. His wife was barren, he had no children, so how was he going to be a great nation? From a natural perspective, this wasn't going to happen. But Abraham believed in the words of God, and he believed in his promise.

6:55Five chapters later, in Genesis 17, God reminds Abraham again of his promise. Let's turn to Genesis 17:1. Now, when Abraham was 99 years old, the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, I am God Almighty. Walk before me and be blameless. I will establish my covenant between me and you, and I will multiply you exceedingly. Abram fell on. His face, and God talked with him, saying, As for me, behold, my covenant is with you, and you will be a father of a multitude of nations. No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham, for I have made you a father of a multitude of nations. I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make nations of you, and kings will come forth from you. I will establish my covenant between me and you, and your descendants after you, throughout their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your descendants after you. I will give to you and your descendants after you the land of your sojournings and all the land of Canaan for an everlasting possession, and I will be their God. God said further to Abraham, Now as for you, you shall keep my covenant, you and your descendants after you, throughout their generations.

8:24So this promise of God is not vague. He repeatedly says, I will seven times. God was going to accomplish something. Abraham knew he could count on these promises because a promise is as good as the person making it. Sometimes you have relatives that's not very defendable, so they say they're going to do something. It might be a 25% chance they get it done. But when God promises something, you can go ahead and write that down as complete because he is going to do it.

8:58So verse 1 of Genesis. 22 after these things is referring to God fulfilling his promise to Abraham. Back to Genesis 22, verse 2. He said, Take now your son, your only son, whom you love, Isaac, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I will tell you. This command just seems counterproductive. God had just fulfilled this promise. Abraham had waited decades to get Isaac. Isaac grows up, and then now God's asking Abraham to end the lineage. It doesn't really make sense from Abraham's perspective. That's the nature of a test. A test proves what someone actually knows and believes.

9:48When a child moves out of a Christian home, they go through a test as well to see if their faith that they're proclaiming is actually their own. If they never left the home, they would start to wonder if the faith was actually theirs. They had no freedom to disobey. So Abraham was being tested to see: did he have authentic faith? Would he trust that the Lord would see this through to his good? Isaiah 55, 8 through 9, For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. How do we know? Our lives are based on the Word of God.

10:33Sometimes we can try to fit God into our framework. We're comfortable with a certain way everything's going, and we don't really want to change that. We can skip over certain sections of the Bible that make us uncomfortable. Don't really want to dig in too much. But true faith requires us to trust the Word of God. Our culture, friends, family, and even our own flesh will try to get us to modify the Word of God. And we must resist that temptation to change it.

11:09Family Research Council did a survey on biblical worldview. They looked at different things like creation, salvation, belief on the Bible, life has a purpose, gender roles, all that. And they found that 6% of Americans have a biblical worldview. 6%. And that's down from 10% in 2017. So just four years, we've gone from 10 to 6. I think we all have noticed that there's been quite a cultural shift recently. And there's a fault line running down the middle, and God's Word and culture. And now culture has been shifting quite drastically. So we have to pick one side or the other now. It's not easy to just hang out. In the middle.

12:06Now, of those 6% that have a biblical worldview, or only 6% have a biblical worldview, but 51% of people surveyed believe that they had a biblical worldview. They thought that everything they believed was what the Bible said. And this runs against all age groups. The millennials are about 4%, and over 75 is about 8%. So, how do we know which group we are in? We have to read the Word of God. In Ken Hamm's book, Divided Nation: Cultures and Chaos in a Conflicted Church, he asked, What happened to this culture? He responded, If you raise up generations to believe the Bible's not true, the Bible's not the foundation for your thinking, and if you send them to the increasingly very secular, anti-God education system, let them be indoctrinated through the anti-God secular media so they're brainwashed into thinking man determines truth, then ultimately anything goes. So, there's only two options: either God has determined truth, or we get to make it up.

13:24A 2018 survey on media consumption looked at people watching TV, movies, social media. Radio, magazines, podcasts, everything you consume, I found that we now consume about 11 hours a day of media. Every one of those sources has a biblical worldview or has a worldview. Consuming media can change our standards and view of right or wrong. 2 Corinthians 11:13 tells us: But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds will be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ.

14:09Does the media you consume lead you closer to Christ? Is it based on a biblical worldview? Everything that's created has an agenda. They're trying to get you to view a narrative as a positive one. Media can also make us desensitize to sin. Things that we would have been shocked at 20 years ago are now commonplace. And depending on your media, even political media, they can focus on the wrong solutions. We have a spiritual problem. We don't have a political problem.

14:54Just as parents wouldn't let their son go and hang out with a bad friend in the neighborhood. You shouldn't hang out with the bad media that corrupts your mind. 1 Corinthians 15:33 tells us, Do not be deceived. Bad company corrupts good morals. So, when we go out evangelizing, we'll often find that people say they believe in God, and you find out that they have created a God that they're comfortable with. They have a God that doesn't tell people who to love or who they can't love, a God that doesn't ask them to change, is very comfortable with them staying exactly how they are, a God that doesn't call things sinful, lets everybody into heaven. Make sure that you know who God is as He's revealed to us in this book.

15:50When you read a difficult passage, don't try to quickly move on. Meditate on the words of Scripture and let the Holy Spirit convict you if need be. A lot of times, we'll find that we call a passage difficult, not because it's hard to understand. The Greek and Hebrew are very clear, but it's difficult because of the implications. It might cause us discomfort or division. Romans 12:2 tells us, and do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. So, you may prove. What the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. Our minds need renewal.

16:38We can get that through reading and applying God's Word to our lives. For believers, this should be joyful. God has revealed Himself to us. We have this book. We have the mind of God for us to understand right here. He tells us what our responsibilities are. We're not left wondering. In Athens, Paul spoke about their altar to the unknown God. We know who God is. So Abraham's faith was based on the word of God and not his own understanding. The second element of authentic faith is it produces action.

17:20Verse 3: So Abraham rose early in the morning and saddled his donkey and took two of his young men with him and Isaac his son, and he split wood for the burnt offering and arose and went to the place of which God had told him. So Christmas morning. You don't have to spend a lot of time trying to get the kids out of bed and up to go see their presence, do you? Contrast that with if they're going to have to get up for school or get up early, go do chores. You might have to do a lot more tugging and convincing.

17:57They might be obeying but protesting. But Abraham rose early in the morning. He was diligent to follow God's command. Not only did he rise early, he split the wood. He made preparation so he would have everything he needed to follow out what God told him to do. He did not do this half-hearted. Verse 4: On the third day, Abraham raised his eyes and saw the place from a distance. So this was a three-day journey for him. That gives a lot of time for reflection. When I was in Boy Scouts, I went to a high-adventure hiking trip. We spent five days going through the wilderness in Colorado. And after about the first hour, your mind starts to wander because everything looks the same, there's nothing happening, and you have a lot of time to ponder things. So, as Abraham walked along, step after step, he had to think about what he was about to do.

19:00He had to reflect on how much he loved Isaac. He'd been waiting so long for Isaac, and he was here, and God had asked him to sacrifice him. But he also had to reflect on who God was. God promised to keep him, to get him through this, make him a father of many nations. So, that's an important part of this story as we're going through it as he did. He had time to change his mind. Him to do this and give him ten seconds to decide. He had time to make sure he was certain of what he was doing. And Abraham did not turn around when he had the chance. Verse 5, Abraham said to his young men, Stay here with the donkey, and I and the lad will go over there, and we will worship and return to you. So Abraham gives us some insight to his thoughts here. He expected to return with Isaac. He said, We will worship and return to you. He had faith in the words of God to bring them both back.

20:03Verse 6, 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 the two of them walked together. Isaac spoke to Abraham his father and said, 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 the burnt offering? Abraham said, God will provide for himself the lamb of the burnt offering, my son. So the two of them walked on together. So Abraham did not tell Isaac the plan.

20:37Isaac was familiar with the sacrifices and knew something was missing. But Abraham continues to express his faith in God. God will provide. Verse 9. Then they came to the place of which God had told him, and Abraham built the altar there and arranged the wood and bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar on top of the wood. Bound his son and laid him on the altar. This is where doubt can set in. You start to have butterflies in your stomach, your heart rate goes up, you start sweating. Am I really going to do this?

21:15Would Abraham pass this test? Verse 10, Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. This is the climax of the text. He takes the knife in his hand, he raises it to sacrifice his beloved son, Isaac, whom he waited so long for, the child of the promise, but he was willing to follow God. He's going to pass this test. What do you actually believe? Sometimes there's a difference in what people say they believe and what they actually do in their lives. If someone says, I love God's word, but they never study or apply it to their lives, are their words accurate?

22:05Abraham's faith in God's words produced action in his life. He was willing to trust that God knows more than him. He also knew that God has our best interest in mind. His thoughts are way higher than our thoughts. It's always not for our comfort. This test was very uncomfortable. For Abraham. What is uncomfortable for us to do that God has called us to do? Ephesians 5:33, speaking to husbands, says, Nevertheless, each individual among you is also to love his own wife, even as himself. And the wife must also see to it that she respects her husband.

22:56These two commands are so short. They seem simple until you get out into the real world. Wives, respect your husband. This is not just when he's being respectful. This is not only when you agree with him. Sometimes you don't agree with him. I know many husbands are very hard-headed and stubborn. And even though you know it's going to go wrong, they decide to go and do it anyway. But you're still called to respect them. Likewise, husbands, love your wife.

23:40This is not just go to work and you fulfilled your duty. This is loving your wife. It says here, love his own wife even as himself. You need to care about your wife. You need to care about the things she cares about. You need to give yourself up for her as Christ gave himself up for the church. In 1 Peter 2.18, he discusses the servant-master relationship. We can apply it to work of bosses and employees. He says, Servants, be subject to your masters with all respect, not only to those who are good and gentle, but also to those who are harsh. For this finds favor, if for the sake of conscience towards God, a person endures grief when suffering unjustly. For what credit is it if, when you sin or are harshly treated, you endure it with patience? But if when you do what is right and suffer for it, you patiently endure it. This finds favor with God.

24:48So he tells them to be subject to those who are not just gentle, but also those who are unjust. Unbelievers will treat people nicely who treat them nicely. But we're called to a higher standard. I think you can see a theme from these three examples. God calls us to obey, regardless of what the other person is doing. He gives us instructions. We are to be the best husbands or wives or employees as there are in the workplace or in the home.

25:25We're not supposed to treat other people how they've treated us. Us, we're called to a higher standard. Now, I want to clarify a misconception of faith versus works. A lot of times people think in the Old Testament you're justified by works. Follow the law or do these things. In the New Testament, it's all faith that saves us. But it's always been faith in God that saves us. There was only one that fulfilled the law. Let's look at James 2:18.

25:57But someone may well say, You have faith, and I have works. Show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith by my works. You believe that God is one. You do well. The demons also believe and shudder. But are you willing to recognize, you foolish fellow, that faith without works is useless? Was not Abraham, our father, justified by works when he offered up to Isaac his son on the altar? You see that faith was working with his works, and as a result of the works, faith was perfected, and the scripture was fulfilled, which says, and Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness, and he was called the friend of God.

26:42So faith is perfected by our works, not the other way around. When we go out witnessing, we'll share the gospel with people, and often they'll say, I know I need to get back to church, or I need to stop drinking, or I need to. Go do this thing as if these works will then make us right with God. That's backwards. Faith comes first, and then the works come out of the faith. Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness. The same as for us.

27:18So, Abraham's faith produced action in his life. He was willing to give up his greatest treasure of Isaac. Third element is authentic faith, trust in God's promises. 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 stretch out your hand against the lad and do nothing to him. For now I know you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.

27:52Now I know you fear God. So, this fear is not just scared, it's also fear is in awe, reverence, respect. As we saw earlier, Abraham didn't begrudgingly fulfill this, but he did it with diligence. He got up early, he brought everything he needed, he made God's will his will. We can see the same kind of example in the parent-child relationship. If kids don't respect God, A parent, they will obey as far as the parent can see them, and then when they get out of the room, they'll go do whatever they want. Same thing with an employee that doesn't respect the boss. The boss isn't there, they'll just do whatever they want or disrespect them.

28:45But Abraham demonstrated the right fear of the Lord by obeying him. Verse 13. Then Abraham raised his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him a ram caught in the thicket by his horns. And Abraham went and took the ram and offered him up for a burnt offering in the place of his son. Imagine the elation of Abraham at this point. He had gone through this whole journey, all his doubts, and God provided. He placed his absolute trust in the Lord, and God came through.

29:25Now, in the place of his son, this is a picture of the substitutionary atonement of Jesus. So God sent Jesus, fully God and fully man, to live the perfect life that we could not, to die in our place, so our sins could be forgiven. Just as God provided the sacrifice as a ram for Abraham, he provided Jesus for us so we would not have to face eternal death. Verse 14, Abraham called the name of that place, the Lord will provide, as it is said to this day. In the mount of the Lord, it will be provided.

30:04So, what was Abraham thinking as he had his knife in the hand above Isaac? He told Isaac before the Lord would provide. Thankfully, we do not have to wonder. Hebrews 11:17 gives us some insight. By faith, Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was offering up his only begotten son. It was he to whom it was said, In Isaac your descendants shall be called. He considered that God is able to raise people even from the dead, from which he also received him back as a type. God is able to raise people from the dead. So Abraham acknowledged the awesome power of God.

30:51He was there when Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed. Now, skeptics often try to downplay the miracles of Scripture. They might say something about the creation narrative that it's just poetry. You have light on day one before the stars on day four. We can't believe that. Or Noah and the worldwide flood seems unlikely. It was probably just a local flood. How could the Red Sea actually part? There's probably just a sandbar or something under there they walked across. But the greatest statement of power is Genesis 1:1. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. If God Can create all of this out of nothing. What is it to bring somebody back from the dead?

31:36Verse 15. Then 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 thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son, indeed I will greatly bless you, and I will greatly multiply your seed as the stars of the heavens, and as the sand which is on the seashore, and your seed shall possess the gates of their enemies. In your seed, all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice.

32:09So Abraham passed the test, and God renews his promise to bless him and his descendants. Are you a descendant of Abraham? Galatians 3.6 tells us, Even so, Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness. Therefore, be sure that it is those who are of faith who are sons of Abraham. The scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, All the nations will be blessed in you. So then, those who are of faith are blessed with Abraham, the believer.

32:52Do you trust in the promises of God? Romans 8.28 tells us that all things work together. For good, for those who love God. Do you believe that the trials of life are not in vain? God is accomplishing something in your faith through these trials. He purifies our faith through trials. And Christians should be full of joy with the promises of God. You have eternal life. The rest of this is all temporary. So Abraham's faith led him to trust in God's promises.

33:34So this section of scripture shows us three elements of authentic faith in God. Authentic faith is based on the Word of God, it produces action, and it trusts in His promises. For the Christian, this can provide us with assurance. Your life is based on the Word of God. The gospel of Jesus Christ is the cornerstone of your life. You don't know everything, but you seek to understand Him more and more and apply His Word to your life. Your faith produces action. You're growing in godliness. That doesn't mean that you're perfect. I like that Paul calls himself the chief of sinners. He understood: the more you understand God, the more you see how much you're still sinning.

34:21But are you growing in holiness? Do you have a genuine desire to overcome sin in your life? Not just for people to see, but So you can be holy. Your faith is based on the promises of God. God doesn't promise us health, wealth, or fame. He promises us eternal life, working things out for our good and eternity. Life more abundantly. So believers should read this passage with joy. In that New York City mock trial, they found Abraham not guilty. There was a lot of talk of maybe he was temporarily insane or some other reason. But the whole trial is based on a flawed view of God.

35:13Unbelievers put themselves above God and try to make judgments down on him. They want to be the objective standard. Not thy will, but my will be done. They have it backwards. Do you have authentic faith? Examine yourself. Look at your life honestly. If you don't have authentic faith, there's hope. Don't try to do more good works. It doesn't work. It got you to where you are today. Realize that you are in eternal danger because of your own sins. Repent and put your faith in Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins. Rest in his finished work. Work on the cross. And God will give you a new heart with new desires, and you can have authentic faith in the only one worthy of worship. Let's pray.

36:13Dear Lord, thank you for this day. Thank you for everything you blessed us with. Thank you so much for your word. Thank you for this story of faith of Abraham. Thank you for including not only the highlights but the low points of Abraham's life for us to study. Please help us apply these truths to our life. Help convict us where we need convicting. Help encourage us where we need encouraging. Please help us rely on your finished work, not our work. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.