When Faith Gets Tested

Yesterday I posted the first part of this teaching I recently did at New Life.  It's part of this Fall series entitled "The Journey of Faith".  Our lives are a journey and we can live them in various ways.  To choose to live by faith is to orient our lives in such a way that our faith in God becomes the basis for our decision making in all things.  
I think it's fair to think of Faith as a compass.  
A compass always points north.  
So, faith always directs us back to God, his word, and our trust in him.

Faith does not sit in a quiet background, it lives in the tensions of life.  Faith is tested in every day life.  Here's where we continue with the story of Abraham and God's - seemingly impossible - command to him concerning his son of promise, Isaac.

Genesis 22:1-2
¹  After these things God tested Abraham and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.”
²  He said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and 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.”

Abraham had waited 25 years for God’s promise to occur, and since Isaac is now a young child, it’s been several years of family life since.

Then, God makes this command to him.

“Offer Him” – Sacrifice him.

Abraham had been tested several times before, and some he passed and some he failed.

• ·       He past the first test to leave his country, his family and journey to the land.
• ·        He failed the next test when the famine hit and he went to Egypt and lied about who Sarah was to him.
• ·        He passed the next test in giving Lot the choice of the best land.
• ·        He passed the test of rescuing Lot and refusing to take the spoils of war, instead giving them as an offering to God.
• ·        He failed the test in trying to make God’s promises come to pass by taking Hagar and having Ishmael. 
• ·        He passed the last one in believing God was going to give him a Son through Sarah…

And it finally happened.  BUT, now a test comes along that seems beyond the scope of anyone's imagination; and in many ways it is far more difficult than any other test he had ever had. 

None of us want "tests"...times when we go "Why this?"... "God, where are you?"...  "Why is this happening now?"

One principle of being tested:  1 Corinthians 10:13
¹³  No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.

Not every test in our lives is from God.  Jesus taught us to pray that we would be “delivered from the evil one”.  Some of the tests we receive aren't from God, but from the enemy of God who wants to destroy our faith.

But sometimes God tests…Why? He tests our obedience, our loyalty to his word, and are willingness to follow him no matter what.  Our tests often involve sacrifice.  In a story from the Gospels, Jesus asks a question of his disciples and then dashes their hopes for what they think this will mean

Luke 9:18-24
¹⁸  Once when Jesus was praying in private and his disciples were with him, he asked them, "Who do the crowds say I am?"
¹⁹  They replied, "Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, that one of the prophets of long ago has come back to life."
²⁰  "But what about you?" he asked. "Who do you say I am?" Peter answered, "The Christ of God."
²¹  Jesus strictly warned them not to tell this to anyone.
²²  And he said, "The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life."

That’s not what they expected after hearing that Jesus was the Christ…the Messiah.  To them that meant he was the deliverer, the conqueror, the one who was going to make everything that was wrong, right.

That’s the problem with Tests of Sacrifice, they often appear difficult because they are not things we want.

BUT, there’s another reason for this that we need to hear.  Jesus continued immediately in the conversation to say to them…

²³  Then he said to them all: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.
²⁴  For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it.

Expect Tests from God…

What do we do when they occur?

Faith Means We Focus on the Promises of God, not Explanations

Genesis 22:2
²  He said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and 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.”

Make no mistake, a burnt offering is not a symbolic child’s dedication.  It was an act of sacrificing his Son that God asked him to do.

Moriah was a mountain top…in what will someday be Jerusalem.  

Eventually, on this mountain top, David will build the altar that the Temple’s Holy of Holies will be built upon.  This is where the burnt offerings were later offered, and the blood taken behind the veil of the Holy of Holies and spilled on the mercy seat.

You can’t help but read this and think, it seems so unreasonable for God to ask him to do this?

·        

    Isaac was Abraham's only son, and he had waited in hope for him for years.

·        Isaac was a miracle child, the gift of God to Abraham and Sarah in by faith.

·        And I can imagine they loved him as only a parent could love.

So, God is testing Abraham's faith, hope, and love.  That is the nature of our tests:  It is about who our Faith is in, Who our Hope is in, and Who We Love.

James 1:2-4
²  Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds,
³  because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.
⁴  Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

What God is after in testing is not suffering, but maturity…a process of learning about ourselves, as well as God.

Which is the point in this section.  What we're after in many times of testing is "Explanations".  What we get frustrated by is not knowing "why".  But I think it's a mistake to seek explanations when they won't come; and instead I think it's much better to focus on God's promises instead.  As a Pastor, I never try to give people explanations for WHY things happen.  I don’t know God’s purposes and how he works out his will in our lives.  I don't know, and can't pretend to know.  But I do know what God promises, and those are the things that do matter.  We trust because trusting by Faith when we Focus on God’s promises, and not the explanations, we will always give us the Hope through Faith that we often need.

One more thing to add to this...

Faith Means We Depend Upon God and His Provisions

Abraham trusts God and does what he is asked to do.

Genesis 22:3-5
³  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.
⁴  On the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place from afar.
⁵  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.”

The significance of the act is amazingly prophetic.  Look at the details in the passage...can you see the symbolic portrayal of Jesus in this?

·        

    Isaac was Abraham’s ONLY child.

·        The mountain top is where the Temple would sit, and the Holy of Holies would be. 

·        It took them 3 days to get there.

Then:  Genesis 22:6-8
⁶  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. So they went both of them together.

⁷  And Isaac said to his father Abraham, “My father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” He said, “Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?”
⁸  Abraham said, “God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” So they went both of them together.

The Father and the Son on the mountain top are alone.

The Father and the Son are acting together on this…and Abraham is positive God will provide the sacrifice needed.

Genesis 22:9-13
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 bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood.
¹⁰  Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to slaughter his son.
¹¹  But the angel of the LORD called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.”
¹²  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.”
¹³  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.

This is the story of the cross.

God provided a substitute…but in his case, it wasn’t another animal, it was His son, Jesus.

Remember how Isaiah prophesies the death of Jesus and says, Isaiah 53:4-6
⁴  Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.
⁵  But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.
⁶  All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

Abraham is acting out the future of God’s sacrificial offering of His one and only Son.  Why?  This is the story of Faith and God’s Sacrifice….

John 3:16
¹⁶  “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 

Jesus, the Son was born to Die for the world.

Jesus, the Son bore the burden of our Sin.

Jesus, the Son was raised from the dead because his sacrifice was sufficient for the sins of the whole world.

Let's be clear, we are tested for the sake of our maturity, learning about ourselves and God and not for the sake of judgment.  

There is an afterwards for all of the Tests we experience..  1 Peter 5:10
¹⁰  And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.

Remember how Abraham had told the others that he and Isaac would go up the mountain themselves to WORSHIP.

That’s why we live out that sacrifice in Faith…knowing God has much more in mind than we can imagine.

Romans 8:31-32
³¹  What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?
³²  He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?

Faith means we don’t have to live without hope…but instead, we lean back into the Grace of God, even when we’re in the midst of the pain, suffering and difficulties.  And, Faith means we get to practice this every day.

Romans 12:1
¹  I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.

 Peace my friends,