Sermon: Now That's Faith #3

Now That’s Faith!
Part 3 of 3
Faith At Its Most Intense
Hebrews 11:17-19
By Alan Walker

Now, many years later, Abraham’s God calls upon him to take the most intense step of faith Abraham would ever be called upon to make – sacrifice this same beloved son.

The story is told of a young man who wanted to date a beautiful and elegant woman from work. She suggested the high class, 5 star, tie, coat and evening gown required restaurant. As they were seated, he asked what the soup was for the evening. The gentleman assured him someone would soon come by and let him know. Waiter after waiter walked by the couple, but no one would talk to them. The young man was on a limited budged and was concerned about the cost and had decided he would only order soup. Finally, as a waiter walked by he asked, "Sir, what’s the soup today?" The waiter turned up his nose and walked on. This occurred several times, frustrating the young man and somewhat embarrassing his more refined date. Finally a waiter was walking by with a serving tray extended over his head and the tired of waiting young man simply stuck out is foot and tripped the waiter. Salad and soup went flying in every conceivable direction. Quickly he got down on the floor and touched the soup with his tongue and said," Yes, yes, I will have a bowl of the clam chowder." While he bumped the waiter and revealed the soup of the day - he ate alone.

What do the bumps of life reveal about you? For that matter, why are there bumps in life?

Some say the bumps of life are there so God will know what we are made of deep in our heart and soul.

I disagree with that summarization. God already knows what we are made of deep in our heart and soul.

The bumps of life come so that we – the bumpee – will see what we are made of deep in our soul. They reveal to us our strengths and weaknesses.

Our text for this message is Heb 11:17-19:

17 By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had received the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son, 18 even though God had said to him, "It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned." 19 Abraham reasoned that God could raise the dead, and figuratively speaking, he did receive Isaac back from death. (NIV)

Hebrews 11 is not just a chapter to show us the Greats of the faith. It is also a chapter to inspire us today to the challenges of faith. This is not just about them and their faith. It is about you and your faith - and me and my faith! They are gone – we’re still living and growing day by day. Their faith has reached its climax – but we are still straining to grow ours.

The names are spelled differently, we are in another era, we use a different language, and if they were here we could not communicate with them. Yet:

	Faith transcends all of those barriers.
	Faith still speaks volumes.
	Faith is still recognizable.

We can have faith like theirs and be men and women of mighty, mesmerizing, magnificent faith.

In this final and most intense look at the life of Abraham we are going to see four things about his faith that we may never have considered. The first is…

1. The Progression of His Faith

Abraham was commanded by the Lord God to offer up his son, the only son he has as a sacrifice to God.

Verse 17: "By faith Abraham... offered Isaac as a sacrifice."

Talk about intense! Talk about extreme! Talk about severe!

Yet we need to note that God didn’t ask Abraham to make this sacrifice the first time He revealed Himself. When you follow Abraham's life you see that there was a progression of his faith. God had Abraham leave Ur first. The Patriarch trusted God and his confidence grew. God took care of them on this journey. God was with him each step of the way. Their relationship grew and developed as Abraham’s faith was emerging.

Then God told them they would have a baby – even though Sarah was way past the age of child-bearing and Abraham was unable to father a child. Isaac was born. God did the impossible, the improbable, and Abraham knew God was a good God and that He could be trusted.

Now, many years later, Abraham’s God calls upon him to take the most intense step of faith he would ever be called upon to make – sacrifice this same beloved son. Do you see the progression?

Our faith also will grow as a progression. It starts simply then grows from there. We ought to be doing all we can to grow our faith. Every verse we read, every passage we memorize, every fast we do, every prayer we offer, every service we attend, every ministry we involve ourselves with, these grow our faith. Every time we step out on a promise of God our faith grows.

Faith rarely if ever begins with the intense command to do the extreme, but rather it begins with a speck of faith, the size of a flake of black pepper, a mustard seed faith. That’s where it begins. Sadly, in far too many lives, that’s where it remains.

Our faith is meant to grow and mature. As we trust God and take Him at his word, see Him work in our lives, our faith begins to mushroom. It begins to take shape. It gives us a foundation to stand upon. Soon, faith is more than just a word we hear about in a sermon, it becomes a way life for us. We learn to walk not by what we see but by what He says.

2 Corinthians 5:7 says, "We live by faith, not by sight." NIV

The mustard seed that is within you called faith – ask God to grow it!

Abraham could never have faced the most intense moment of his life without first having had faith as a way of life in the lesser moments.

In our lives, too, there may come a "most intense moment." How well we do depends upon the faith we have grown up to that point. The outcome of future intense moments will be determined by how we do with the present one.

Faith in Abraham's life followed a progression. It does in our lives, too.

2. The Test of His Faith

Verse 17 again: "By faith Abraham, when God tested him…"

Why does God test us? I thought the Bible said in James that God wouldn’t tempt or test us?

James 1:13-14 says, When tempted, no one should say, "God is tempting me." For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. NIV

It seems that there are at least two kinds of testing. God does not tempt us to commit sin. God will not tempt us or test us to do evil for He has nothing to do with evil. However, God will test us to reveal the true nature of our character. He will "bump us" to show us what kind of soup we are serving.

That’s what God seems to be doing here in the life of Abraham.

Feeling tested lately? It could be God is stretching you, nudging you, bumping you to help you see where your faith is and how it needs to expand.

God tested Abraham. He will test you and me. Next we'll consider:

3. The Willingness of His Faith

"By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac…"

The thing to note here is that Abraham did not delay when instructed by God to carry out this sacrifice.

Genesis 22:1-3 says, Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, "Abraham!" "Here I am," he replied. Then God said, "Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Mariah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about." Early the next morning Abraham got up and saddled his donkey. He took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. When he had cut enough wood for the burnt offering, he set out for the place God had told him about.

The true temptation would be to put this off for a day or two - or for that matter, a decade or two.

	Perhaps time to question whether the voice heard was really that of God.
	Perhaps time to debate the issue with God, explaining carefully to the Lord that this simply did not make any sense.
	Perhaps time to complain - asking what kind of God would ask such a thing as this? What kind of God is it that I serve?

Yet we are told that Abraham went "early the next morning…" Without delay Abraham was willing to take the most intense step of his life and obey God.

Abraham had found God to be faithful many times in his life. As a result of this the partiarch had come to trust Him. He trusted that God could see the big picture. He knew from the perspective devived from a long progression of growing faith in his life that it was impossible to comprehed the wisdom of God.

How have you been dealing with God's tests in your life - those times when God moves you, nudges you bumps you and it doesn't seem to make sense? Have you been reasoning with Him and explaining to Him in great detail why He is wrong in what He is doing?

My wife had a great job in Sutherlin. I had a great job in Sutherlin. We were attending the best church I’ve ever been a part of in Oakland. Our friends were there, and our children and grandchildren were very close. Did we want to come here to Arcata? No. Not really.Then why are we here? When God nudges and makes His leading clear, you either ignore him or you obey Him. You either allow your faith to remain the size of a mustard seed or you allow God to show you how to grow it by trusting Him.

Our faith has grown because of this challenge. We are not the same people we were a year ago. We trust God more. It’s been a year of personal growth for us.

Lord God, make us willing to go where our faith leads us – even if it’s where we do not want to go. And God make us willing to stay where our faith plants us – even if it’s not where we want to remain.

We've noted the progression of Abraham's faith. We've seen the greatest test of his faith. We've seen his willingness. Now let's look at:

4. The Focal Point of His Faith

Verse 19 says, "Abraham reasoned that God could raise the dead, and figuratively speaking, he did receive Isaac back from death."

Abraham’s focus wasn't on himself nor does it appear to have been primarily on his much loved son. It may have been earlier in his journey with God, but now his focus was on God.

Again, 2 Corinthians 5:7 says, "We live by faith, not by sight." NIV

Abraham wasn't walking by sight. His focus was on God!

"Abraham reasoned that God could raise the dead...."

God could even raise Isaac from the dead. God was his focus! If our faith is to grow as God wants it to grow we must have Him as the focal point.

Abraham knew God's promise – He knew Isaac was the one through whom the promise would be fulfilled.

Look again at Genesis 22, this time in verses 9-12: When they reached the place God had told him about, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. But the angel of the Lord called out to him from heaven, "Abraham! Abraham!" "Here I am," he replied. "Do not lay a hand on the boy," he said. "Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son." NIV

The knife was in hand. The knife was raised. The old man did not have the glazed look of a maniac or a schizophrenic who was hearing voice, but the look in his eye was of a father in pain, who trusted his heavenly Father. And with a tear sliding down the pale, weathered and leathery face, the knife began its downward plunge… Then God whose angel was standing nearby called a halt to the sacrifice and Abraham’s faith grew even larger.

Now, that’s faith!

That’s why as long as there is a planet earth – two names will forever be remembered. Those names are of course, Jesus Christ, our Savior, and the name of Abraham, the father of the Faithful.

Wrapping It Up

In every life there may come that one incredible, overwhelming, intense moment - life at its most intense. At that time what is needed is faith at its most intense - faith like Abraham's. Will you have it when the time comes?

Copyright © 2005. Alan Walker is minister of the Arcata Church of Christ in Arcata, California. Used by permission. Permission is granted by the author and by The Preacher's Study to use this document in total or in sermon preparation in the context of the local congregation only. Publishing it in a book, on the Internet, or any place beyond the local congregation is prohibited.