Abraham's Faith Again

Hebrews 11 verses 17 to 19 are the verses we're going to cover this morning. Abraham's faith again. The first time we talked about Abraham in Hebrews 11, it was about the call of Abraham.

Now we're going to look at the commitment of Abraham. The right of Hebrews, one of the Jewish people that he was writing to, to understand, not only was Abraham called by faith, but by faith, he lived a life of supreme commitment. So the Bible says these words in Hebrews 11 verse number 17, 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. Three things I want you to see today, Abraham's test, Abraham's trust, and Abraham's testimony. Three things. First of all, Abraham's test.

Bible makes it very clear in verse number 17 that Abraham, when he was tested, you know, I don't know what test you're going through. Maybe you're going through one even today, but I can recall growing up and going off to college and then going off to grad school and realizing that every time I received a syllabus at the beginning of the year, I would go through and mark out all the dates in which there was going to be a test. Knowing that the tests were going to come periodically throughout the year at different times with different courses, and then, of course, there's always a final examination, I would mark my calendar so that I would always be prepared on test day.

But every once in a while, there would be a professor who would throw a pop quiz in there and we would be unaware of the time in which that quiz would come. And because we were unaware, for the most part, we were unprepared to take that exam or that quiz. Today, in Abraham's life, comes a test, a test that he was prepared for, a test that over time we're able to see that this man had come to grips with the reality of God in his life and would be prepared for the foremost test of his entire life. The reason you and I tend to fail our tests is simply because we're unprepared.

And we don't need to be unprepared. We can be very much prepared for any test that comes our way. And the question comes, how was it that Abraham was prepared? Well, like we've done with all the previous characters of Hebrews 11, I'm going to take you back to the account which the writer of Hebrews is referring to in Hebrews 11, 17 to 19, back to Genesis chapter 22. So if you have your Bible, turn back with me, if you would, to Genesis chapter 22. And we're going to look at Abraham's test.

But before we do, I want to show you how Abraham was prepared for this test. Why is it Abraham responds the way he does when he's commanded by God to sacrifice his son? How would he ever be prepared for something of that magnitude? Well, the Bible says in Genesis 22, verse number one, these words, now it came about after these things, well, what things?

Well, you'd have to go back to Genesis chapter 21, where in Genesis chapter 21, Abraham had made a covenant with Abimelech, and he was at peace with Abimelech. And the Bible says these words in verse number 33, Abraham planted a tamarisk tree at Beersheba.

And there he called on the name of the Lord, the everlasting God, and Abraham sojourned in the land of the Philistines for many days. Now, Beersheba is 45 miles southwest of Jerusalem, and he would be there for many days. Well, how long is many days? Well, Isaac is born in Genesis chapter 21. And when you come to Genesis chapter 22, he is a young man. So we're probably thinking somewhere between 10 to 15 years later between Genesis 21 and Genesis chapter 22. So after these things, after his sojourning there in the land of the Philistines, after their calling upon the name of the Lord, these things take place.

But notice what it says. It says that he called on the name of the Lord, the everlasting God, El Olam, the everlasting God. God is called the everlasting God one other time in the Old Testament. We know that he has everlasting strength. We know that our Redeemer is everlasting. We know that God is eternal. We know that Jesus is called the everlasting Father in Isaiah chapter 9. So we know that. But here he's called the everlasting God. That's very, very important. Speaking of the eternality of God, that God is immortal, that God is everlasting, that God always was because God always is.

And because he always is, he always was, he always will be. So he is before time. He is in time. He's after time. He exists outside the realm of your time and my time. But he is called El Olam. In other words, Abraham was getting to know his God. It had been 25 years when he had received the promise before Isaac was born. He was born in chapter 21. But all along there is hints about what Abraham was learning that would prepare him for this test. The same thing that will prepare you for any and every test you will ever face.

No matter how severe or how simple that test may be, you can be prepared to face that test and pass that test. It all comes down to what you know about God. If you know your God, you will pass the test. If you don't know your God, you're going to struggle to pass that test. It's going to be more difficult for you. But Abraham was getting to know his God. Remember way back in Genesis chapter 14 when he paid tithes to Melchizedek? There we had the first occurrence of El Elyon, the Most High God.

He was coming to grips with the fact that God was preeminent. He was the Most High God. He was the God over heaven and God over the earth. And then in Genesis chapter 17, God was called El Shaddai. First time that name is used in Scripture, meaning He is the Almighty God.

So not only is God preeminent over everything, God is powerful enough to handle everything. And then as you move through the Scriptures, you realize that in Genesis chapter 26, He's called El Olam, the Everlasting God, speaking of the perpetual presence of God because He's always there. All the while, way back in Genesis 16, it was Hagar who encountered the living God and called upon Him as El Roi, the God who sees. And Abraham would know that well because Hagar would have to go back to Sarah and Abraham and explain to them that she had encountered the living God as to how they would accept her back into the family.

So Abraham was getting to know his God, that he was El Elyon, the preeminent God, the Most High God. He was El Roi, the God who sees. He was the God who perceives everything. He is El Shaddai, the all-powerful God. He is El Olam, which is the Everlasting God. He came to know his God. Daniel 11.32, those who know their God display strength and take action. Right? In order for Abraham to be prepared for this test, he had to know his God. My question to you today is how well do you know your God? Because if you don't know Him very well, when the next test comes, and they will come because you have them every week in different shapes and different sizes.

You have them every month, every year. Some of them simple, some of them severe. But when you face them, do you know your God as you encounter them? Abraham did. So let me tell you something about Abraham's test.

First of all, Abraham's tests were plentiful. He didn't have just one test. He didn't have just two tests, or three tests, or four tests. He's like you and me. He had a life filled with tests. One author began to categorize all the tests, and this is what he says about Abraham's tests. His first test was the forsaking test.

That was when he had to forsake his family and forsake his homeland and move to the land of Canaan. And as soon as he got in the land of Canaan, after the forsaking test came the famine test. Remember when there was a famine that arose in the land of Canaan, the land of promise? And he would flee to Egypt? This is called the famine test. Shortly after that was the falsehood test. Because when they went down to Egypt, he wanted Sarah to lie about the fact that she was his sister and not his wife. And then there was the fellowship test.

That came next because there was that separation from his nephew Lot. And then there was the first choice test.

That happened because Lot would have the first choice in selecting the land that he wanted to take, and Abraham would wait for Lot to make that first choice.

And then there was the forgiveness test. That happened because he had to rescue his nephew Lot and forgive him for the things that he had done. And then there was the fight test because he had to go to war with the armies of the four kings from the east in order to rescue his nephew Lot. And then there was the fortune test because the king of Sodom wanted to give Abraham all of the wealth that he could possibly ever have, and he passed that test with flying colors. And then there was the fear test, and that was after he'd defeated the armies of the east.

God had to come to him and said, Abraham, fear not, because he would be afraid of what the fallback would be because he had gone to war with these four different kings. And then, of course, there was the faith test. He had to believe God about the continued promise of his son. And then there was the faithfulness test and the fatherhood test, the forbearance test, the flesh test, the friendship test, and the tests go on and on and on until you come to chapter 22, which is the foremost test. In other words, Abraham faced a plethora of tests every single chapter in the Scriptures, even to the very end when he had to face the test of his wife dying.

Every test that you could ever imagine Abraham faced. But in Genesis 22, this would be the foremost test because he'd be commended by God to sacrifice the son of promise. And in this story, in Genesis chapter 22, is the hallmark chapter of the work of Christ on Calvary's cross. And Abraham, not necessarily knowing that, had been sojourning in the land of the Philistines for some 10 to 15 years. But he knew his God. And because he knew his God, when God called him, there wasn't a discussion about what to do.

There wasn't a debate with God about why he should do what God asked him to do. There was no denying anything that God said. There was no delaying in his obedience to what God said. But he was ready to follow when God called his name. Now remember, Abraham couldn't go back and read the Bible. Remember, Abraham had to wait for God to speak. He was waiting for God to say something. Because when God said something, he'd have to hang on to it. You and I, we can go back to the Word of God and we can read it.

And we can reread it. And we can come to understand who God is and what he did by looking at all these Old Testament characters. And begin to understand the power of God, the presence of God, the perception of God. We understand everything there is to know about our God. There's no reason for us not to know our God. So we're prepared to face whatever test comes our way. I would think I would have heard an amen at that time. Thank you. I know it's early. You've got an hour left to sleep. That's okay.

We'll be done in an hour or so. So anyways, Abraham's tests were plentiful. Abraham's tests were profitable. Profitable. The Bible says these words.

Now it came about after these things that God tested Abraham and said to him, Abraham, he said, here I am. You should 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. So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him and Isaac, his son. Very simply stated, God says, Abraham, here's the plan.

I want you to go take your son, your only son. Say, wait a minute, he had another son. What about Ishmael? More about that in a moment. This is the son of choice. This is the son of promise. This is the unique son. This is the only begotten son. The only beloved son. This is the son of choice. Take now your son, your only son, and I want you to go to a mountain, which I will tell you. So he had no idea which mountain it was. Because there he was going to go and sacrifice his son. He tells him, very simply, the son of your love.

Very first time in the Bible the word love is used. Very first time. Very important. Because in this chapter is the very first time the word worship is used.

Because you see, you really can't worship God unless you love God. But you always will worship that which you love. Correct? Sure. And so the very first time the word love is mentioned in the Bible is Genesis chapter 22.

The very first time the word worship is mentioned in the Bible is Genesis chapter 22. And remember, the whole guideline for worship is given to us in the Ten Commandments. That's in the book of Exodus under the leadership of Moses. But Abraham knew what it meant to really worship his God. Before there was even any instruction on what it meant to worship your God. That should tell you a lot about worship. Because you always worship that which you love. So he says, take now your son, your only son.

Oh, by the way, just for your reference, the very first time the word love is mentioned in the New Testament is Matthew 3.

Where the Lord out of heaven says, this is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased. Matthew 3 verse number 17. Just in case you wanted to know that. In case you were ever given a pop quiz. And someone asked you when the first time the word love was mentioned in the Bible.

Or in the Old Testament or New Testament. But it goes parallel to the story of Genesis 22. Because Isaac will become the type of Christ. So that everybody who follows Abraham will know about the sacrifice of Christ on Calvary. It's an incredible story. But I want you to notice, not only were Abraham's tests plentiful, they were profitable.

They were profitable in at least four different ways. And you need to understand this. They were profitable because a test of your faith will always ratify the reality of your faith. Will always identify the quality of your faith. Will always, always magnify the beauty of your faith. And will always multiply the opportunity for your faith. And that's exactly what it did in Abraham's life. It ratified the reality of his faith. That he believed God absolutely. And that he behaved accordingly. That's our definition of faith.

Trusting obedience. He believed God absolutely. So that he would behave accordingly to all that God said. So his test proved the reality of his faith. It also proved the quality of his faith. In other words, faith is all about trusting obedience. It's all about trusting the God you say you believe in. Well, the God he believed in was El Shaddai, was El Olam, was El Elyon, was El Roi. He understood the makings of the attributes of God and how to apply it to his life. And so it would identify the quality of his faith.

Because he truly wanted to obey the God he said he believed. At the same time, it would magnify the beauty of his faith. Simply because he didn't argue with God. He didn't fight with God. He didn't struggle with God. So many times when we're tested, what do we do? Why? Why me? Why now? Why not them? Why the severity? We ask all kinds of questions to God, don't we? Abraham asked no question. Abraham just simply obeyed. That's how faith magnifies the beauty of your life. Simply because you know the God you serve.

It all comes back to one thing. Do you really know who God is? And then, of course, it's that which multiplied opportunity. Multiplied opportunity. You know, you'll never learn God's will unless you do God's will. So, when the Bible says, take now the son you love, Isaac, and go to the land of Moriah.

Offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I will tell you. Well, he had to obey God. He had to follow God. In order for him to know which mountain, right, he had to do what God said. So, to learn the will of God, you must do the will of God. You must follow the word of God. You must do what God says.

And that's exactly what Abraham does. So, the Bible tells us, they split the wood for the burnt offering and it rose and went to the place of which God had told him. On the third day, Abraham raised his eyes and saw the place from a distance.

Abraham said to his young men, stay here with the donkey and I and the lad will go over there and we will worship. You need to circle that in your Bible. First time it's mentioned, but Abraham's going to worship his God.

You see, in the midst of a test, what's he going to do? He's going to worship his God. How many times do you see people facing a test who refuse to go to church and worship God? They're facing a test that's so insurmountable, so overwhelming, they can't even get out of bed to worship God. But Abraham's going to worship in the midst of his test. Very important to understand this about Abraham. No wonder he's called the father of our faith. Because that's exactly who he is. So, note this. Abraham's test, plentiful, profitable, painful.

Very painful test. Take now your son, the son you love. He could have said, I'll offer up Ishmael. I'll give him. But why Isaac? Why can't I offer up Ishmael? Didn't do that. He offered up the son that he loved dearly, the promised son. So, this test is painful in a variety of ways. He has a long journey. It's a three-day journey. And all along the journey, Isaac has no idea what's happening. Right? Abraham didn't tell him. Maybe Abraham was dying to tell him. But he couldn't. And wouldn't. He didn't know exactly what God was going to do.

I and the land are going to go up and worship and return to you. In other words, we're going to return. Wow, that goes to Abraham's trust. We're looking at Abraham's test. But Abraham's trust was that in the midst of the test, God's going to do something so unique, we will return. Well, how can we return if he's going to sacrifice half of the we, his son? That's a good question. But this is a very painful test for Abraham. So, he's got a three-day journey. He's talking to his son about everything there is to talk about, except the one reason they're going.

And that is to offer him up as a sacrifice. Because the son has no idea. That's why he asks about, we had the fire. Right? We had the wood. Where's the lamb? He thinks they're going to go offer a lamb. He doesn't know. He's the lamb. He's the sacrifice. He didn't know that. So, you see, there's great pain for Abraham. This is not something simple. This is not something you read and say, oh, no big deal. We know the end result, right? We know what's going to happen. Abraham didn't. He had no idea.

He just obeyed God. Because he knew who his God was. And that's why it's so important for you and me to know our God. We need to know him in a very personal way. In a way that helps us understand his attributes, his character, his nature. Because Abraham, in the midst of his test, would truly trust his God completely. And when you get involved in a test, do you not have to trust someone, something? We tend to do what? Trust the doctor. As if the doctor's on mission. Or the doctor's all powerful. We want to trust what the Internet says about my condition.

As if they can diagnose my condition. We want to trust somebody else who can come alongside. We want to trust everything there is, except the one person who needs to be trusted. And that's simply because we really do not know our God for who he is. Because if you trusted your God fully and completely, then there would be nobody else who could ever detract you or discourage you or get you off track because you knew exactly that God has a great plan. He's going to fulfill that plan. And here was Abraham.

What a great man of faith. Abraham's test. Plentiful. Profitable. Painful. How about this? Perplexing. Would it not be perplexing for Abraham to wonder, wait a minute, isn't this a son of problem? Isn't this a son I waited for for 25 years? Isn't this a son that I had to, I longed for, my wife longed for. Now we have him. Now we're in the process of raising him. And now you want me to kill him. That's got to be perplexing. There had to be all kinds of questions going around in Abraham's mind as to, you've got to be kidding me, Lord.

Why this? Why now? And so with that comes the fact that there's this promise that Abraham's going to be a father of a multitude of nations and that he's going to bless these nations through this seed. But Isaac's not married. He has no wife. He has no children. So if I kill him, he'll never get married. He'll never have any children. How will the seed pass from generation to generation? How is this ever going to happen? The perplexing element to this test had to be off the charts for Abraham. And yet he never argued with God or debated God, never fought with God.

He just did what God said. Isn't that great? Don't you wish you could do that? Well, I do. I do. Then I realize if I knew God like Abraham knew him, I probably could. And so it's important for us to realize who God is. And hopefully through the story of Abraham, his test, his trust, his testimony, you'll be able to face your test tomorrow, this week, this month, next month or this year with flying colors. You'll pass. Abraham didn't pass every test he took, did he? He pretty much flunked the famine test.

He pretty much flunked the falsehood test, right? He didn't pass them all, and neither will you. But the more you get to know your God, the easier it is to pass the tests that come your way. Remember, God designed the test. By the way, God designs every one of your tests. He orchestrates them all. Yes, they're all pop quizzes. Yes, you never know when they're going to come because they come unannounced, but you got to be prepared for them. And the only way to be prepared is to know the true and living God.

And Abraham did. So his test, plentiful, profitable, painful, perplexing, but always, as always, his test was purposeful. There was a great purpose behind all this. What was the purpose? To show not only how much he feared God, but the priority of his life was not the son he loved, but the God he loved. And the whole purpose behind every one of your tests is what? How much do you really love the God you say you serve? Do you love Him? There's no reason why. Is there any other reason why Jesus would say, if any man came after me and hate not his father, his mother, his brother, his sister, his wife, Luke 14, 26, even his own life, can I be my disciple?

Why? Because I need all your affection. I need all your adoration. And when you come to know God for who He is, He does have your affection as He did for Abraham. He does have your adoration as He did for Abraham, right? At the same time, we realize that Christ, after Peter failed his test, Christ asked him, Peter, do you love me? John 21. And Peter says, Lord, you know I love you. Then Christ says, Peter, do you really love me?

Lord, you know I love you. But do you really, really love me, Peter? I mean, do I have all your attention, all your affection, all your adoration, or do you love me? Do you love me more than these, He says? Do you love me more than your fishing? Do you love me more than your friends? Do you love me more than your finances? Do you love me more than your fortune? Do you love me more than your father? Do you love me more than anything else, Peter? If you do, feed my sheep. Then He finally said to Peter, Hey, Peter, if you love me, you're going to follow me.

And by the way, if you follow me, you're going to die. What did Peter say? What about John? Is he going to die too? And Christ says, What difference does it make if he lives, should I come again?

You, Peter, follow me. I'm not talking to John. I'm talking to you. That's why it's so important that in every sermon you hear, God is not talking to your wife or to your husband. He's talking to you. Not talking to your children. He's talking to you. Right? Not talking to your parents. He's talking to you. Specifically, He's talking to you. He wants you to hear this. He wants you to pass the test like Abraham did. No matter how plentiful those tests may be, no matter how painful those tests may be, they're all very profitable.

They're all very purposeful. And that is to show how much you really love the true and living God. So, you move from Abraham's test to Abraham's trust. Abraham's trust. Back in Hebrews 11, it says, 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, Isaac, your descendants shall be called. He considered that God is able to raise people from the dead. This is Abraham's trust. He trusted that God, he'd never seen a resurrection.

He never heard of a resurrection. So how is it he could believe in a resurrection? Well, he knew that God was El Shaddai, all-powerful, the almighty God. God can do anything. He knows this about God. He knew that God sees everything. God knows everything. But he knew, as it says in verse 12 of Hebrews 11, as it says in Romans chapter 4, that his body and Sarah's body was as good as dead. Because she was 90 and he was 100 when Isaac was born. And if God can raise from the dead my reproductive capabilities, well, surely he can raise my son from the dead.

And so Abraham knew that God was a supernatural kind of God to cause him to have a child at such an old age. But God was showing himself faithful. And so he trusted God to do something. That's why he said, wait here and I and the lad will go up and we will worship and we will return. Hebrews 11 tells us he believed that God could raise him from the dead. This man trusted his God to do the supernatural. He trusted God to do something that no one had ever seen before. He trusted God to do something that would be unbelievable for people to realize.

But that's how well he knew his God. He trusted his God. Notice this. The Bible says these words. Abraham said to his young man, and I and the lad will go over there and we'll worship and return to you. And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, laid it on Isaac, his son. He took in his hand the fire and the knife. So the two of them walked on together. Isaac spoke to Abraham, his father, and said, my father, he said, here I am, my son. 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 for the burnt offering, my son. So the two of them walked on together. Then they came to the place of which God had told him. Abraham built an altar there, arranged the wood and bound his son Isaac, laid him on the altar on top of the wood. Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay 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 stretch out your hand against the lad and do nothing to him.

For now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me. And 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. And Abraham called the name of that place. The Lord will provide as it is to this day. In the mount of the Lord it will be provided. What a tremendous testimony. There is so much to unpack in chapter 22 because it's so pivotal to understanding the testimony of Abraham.

You see, Abraham's testimony is this, that God was doing something in Abraham and through Abraham that would affect the people of the world. We forget that in the midst of our test, God is doing something so the people of the world will see something about God that they might not have ever seen had you not faced your test. Do you understand that? Abraham faced his foremost test, but we come to understand everything there is about God in his sacrifice on Calvary. Why? Because of Genesis 22. We understand the person involved in the sacrifice, do we not?

It was the son that was the son of choice, the beloved son, the only begotten, as Hebrews 11 says, the monogamist. Well, the same thing is true of the Lord Jesus Christ. He was the beloved son. He was the monogamist. He was the unique son. He was the son of choice that would be sacrificed, the son of God. We also know about the price involved. The price was the best of what he had. We also know about the place. Where's the place? Well, Genesis 22 tells us what it is. It's Moriah. Very important to the story.

Why? Where's Moriah today? Moriah is Mount Calvary. Mount Moriah is a place where Abraham offered up his son as a sacrifice. Same place that Christ would be offered up as a sacrifice on Mount Calvary, on Mount Moriah, which, by the way, means foreseen. In your Bible with Genesis 22, you need to write the words foreseen next to Moriah because that's what the name Moriah means. That's very important to the story. Why? Because in this place, Abraham would call upon the name of the Lord, and he would say, in the mount of the Lord, he will provide.

He calls the name of the Lord Yahweh Yireh. Yireh is used 1,300 times in the Old Testament. 1,296 times it's translated to see or be seen. Only four times is it translated provide. And so in the mount of the Lord, Mount Moriah, in the place foreseen by the Lord, it shall be seen. What shall be seen? The substitutionary sacrifice that God would provide himself a lamb on Mount Calvary. It's a beautiful type of who Christ is and what Christ did. Now, listen, Yahweh Yireh, meaning the Lord, my provider, the way that God can provide for you is that he sees in advance all that's going to happen, so much so that he sees so as to make sure everything is provided at the right time for you down the road.

He is the ultimate provider. And Abraham would see that. They would take the wood, put on the back of Isaac. Christ would carry the cross on his back. They would take the fire. Fire always symbolizes judgment in the Old Testament. And so Christ became sin for us that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. He bore the wrath of God in his body so that you and I wouldn't have to. God judged his son in your place. And then the knife, the knife was used for piercing. For the shedding of blood, without the shedding of blood, there is no remission of sins.

Everything about the story points to the substitutionary atonement of Christ Jesus, our Lord on Calvary. But here was a man whose testimony would far exceed his expectations. Would go way beyond anything you could ever imagine as people would read the story day after day, year after year for centuries, realizing what God was doing in one man through his only beloved son, the son of choice, the son that he loved so dearly. All of his hopes, all of his dreams, all of his aspirations were based in one son.

And God says, you got to sacrifice. And this is the whole story behind Romans 12. Where Paul would say, I beseech you, brethren, that you present your body a living sacrifice. Abraham takes a knife. If the angel of the Lord, which is the pre-incarnate Christ, doesn't stop him, he slays his son. Isaac, dead sacrifice. Abraham, living sacrifice. There's your illustration. I beseech you, therefore, brethren, that you present your body a living sacrifice. In other words, I want you to be willing to sacrifice all of your dreams, all of your hopes, all of your aspirations, everything you have for me.

That's the meaning of Luke 9.23. If any man came after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow me. Say no to yourself. Deny your dreams. Deny your aspirations. Deny everything you want in life. Because I want you to have, I want you to desire what I want you to have in life. That's what salvation is. That's what a living sacrifice is. And that's what God wants for you and for me. So much to be said, but let me just ask you this very simple question.

What about your life? Let me ask you this. Abraham went to worship. He went to worship the one he loved, right? How do you know you came to worship the one you love today? You were willing to sacrifice anything to do it. That was Abraham. You see, why is it we go to church to worship, but we don't get anything out of it? He didn't sacrifice anything. That's why. We want a convenient kind of worship. We want a soft worship. We don't sacrifice anything to worship God. Come on, we live in the 21st century.

But true worship involves sacrifice. And if you love God, you're willing to sacrifice anything he asks, because you really want to adore and worship his name. But you can only do that if you know who he is. Abraham knew his God. He was willing to sacrifice anything for him. When you came today to worship God, what did you sacrifice to get here? What are you sacrificing while you're here? And what will you sacrifice to continue to worship your God in spirit and in truth? Because you love him so. Let me pray with you.

Father, thank you for today. Abraham is a classic example of what it means to walk by faith, not by sight. So much to say, so little time to say it. But Lord, your word is so, so true. Help us to live in the light of your glorious word, that we might honor you because we love you so. Help us to know you, Lord, to understand you as you are spoken of in scripture. The test is coming for all of us. Maybe some today, maybe some tomorrow. Maybe some of them simple tests. Maybe others more severe tests.

But they are coming. Some are in the midst of them even as we speak. Our prayer is that they would see only the Lord God of Israel and respond as Abraham did. Out of simple trust and obedience. Not knowing the testimony that will follow to affect so many other people simply because we trusted in your name. We ask this in the name of our coming King, Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.