FAITH FACTOR:
Passing the Faith Test
From congregational readings in Genesis 21-25, Feb
11, ‘08 – bk@kluth.org
1 - SPEAK UP when God calls
Gen
22:1
Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, "Abraham!" "Here I am," he replied. Ex
4:11-13 The LORD said: “Now go; I will help you speak and will teach
you what to say." But Moses said,
"O Lord, please send someone else to do it." Deut 13:3-4 The LORD your
God is testing you to find out whether you love him with all your heart and
with all your soul. It is the LORD your God you must follow, and him you must
revere. Keep his commands and obey him; serve him and hold fast to him.
2 - LISTEN UP when God gives instructions
Gen
22:2
Then God said, "Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go
to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a
burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about."
John
6:38
(Jesus said) “I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will
of him who sent me.”
Matt
26:39
Going a little farther, (Jesus) fell with his face to the ground and prayed,
"My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I
will, but as you will."
3 - RISE UP to do God’s will
Gen
22:3-4
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. On the third day Abraham
looked up and saw the place in the distance.
4 - WORSH”UP” GOD with all you have
Gen
22:5-12
He said to his servants, "Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go
over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you." Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering
and placed it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife.
As the two of them went on together, Isaac spoke up and said to his father
Abraham, "Father?" "Yes,
my son?" Abraham replied. "The
fire and wood are here," Isaac said, "but where is the lamb for the
burnt offering?" Abraham answered, "God himself will provide the lamb
for the burnt offering, my son." And the two of them went on
together. 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."
Luke
6:46
(Jesus said) "Why do you call me, 'Lord, Lord,' and do not do what I
say?”
1
Sam 15:22-23
"What is more pleasing to the LORD: your burnt offerings and sacrifices or
your obedience to his voice? Obedience is far better than sacrifice. Listening
to him is much better than offering the fat of rams. Rebellion is as bad as the
sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as bad as worshiping idols.”
5 - LOOK UP to see God’s provision
Gen
22:13-18
Abraham
looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He went over
and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son. So
Abraham called that place The LORD Will Provide (=Jehovah-jireh).
And to this day it is said, "On the mountain of the LORD it will be
provided." The angel of the LORD
called to Abraham from heaven a second time and said, "I swear by myself,
declares the LORD, that because you have done this and have not withheld your
son, your only son, I will surely bless you and make your descendants as
numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore.”
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