Abraham - School of Faith - Part 2

Father, as we read the word, it convicts us, and we're glad for this. But thank You that the word of God also changes us, it transforms us; that in this word is the power to make us more like the Lord Jesus. So help us as we study together. I pray in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, Amen. 

At the age of 75, Abraham enrolled in the school of faith. He discovered throughout those years that there was always a new examination. Famine in the land, problems with Lot, a war, problems with Ishmael and Hagar, problems with his neighbors. But now he is facing the most difficult trial of all. It's as though Abraham is looking at his final exams as he goes through the school of faith. Genesis 22:1-14.

"Now it came to pass after these things that God tested Abraham, and said to him, 'Abraham!' And he said, 'Here I am.' And He said, 'Take now 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.' 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 the wood for the burnt offering, and arose and went to the place of which God had told him. And then on the third day, Abraham lifted his eyes and saw the place afar off. And Abraham said to his young men, 'Stay here with the donkey; the lad and I will go yonder and worship, and we will come back to you.' So Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife, and the two of them went together. 

But Isaac spoke to Abraham his father and said, 'My father!' And he said, 'Here I am, my son.' And he said, 'Look, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?' And Abraham said, 'My son, God will provide for Himself the lamb for a burnt offering.' And the two of them went together. Then they came to the place of which God had told him. And Abraham built an altar there and placed the wood in order; and he bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar, upon the wood. And 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.' And He said, 'Do not lay your hand on the lad, or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me.' Then Abraham lifted his eyes and looked, and there behind him was a ram caught in a thicket by its horns. So Abraham went and took the ram, and offered it up for a burnt offering instead of his son. And Abraham called the name of the place Jehovah-Jireh, which means 'the Lord will provide'; as it is said to this day, 'In the mount of the Lord it shall be provided.'"

Well, the facts of life are these: that God tests us, and as we grow in our faith, the tests become more and more difficult. Madame Guyon, the great French spiritual leader, said, "In the commencement of the spiritual life, our hardest task is to bear with our neighbor; in its progress, with ourselves; in its end, with God." Abraham had been tested by his family, he'd been tested by his neighbors; now he's going to be tested by God. And God was going to honor him by this test and be glorified through Abraham's obedience. 

Well, I suppose all of us have an Isaac in our lives that we don't want to give up. I don't know what it may be in your life—it might be a person. You might be saying, "Oh, if I lose this person, I can never trust God again." It might be a job, it might be possessions, it might be an ambition, I don't know. Isaac was not a bad thing; he was a good thing. Isaac was God's gift to Abraham and Sarah. And when God gives us a gift, He often says, "I want you to give that gift back to Me. I want to be sure that you are trusting Me and that you love Me." You see, when the gift comes between the giver and the receiver, it becomes an idol. God gives us gifts not that we might honor the gifts and live for the gifts. He gives us gifts that we might praise and glorify the Giver. All of God's gifts are good and perfect, and if we do not honor the Giver, then we end up practicing idolatry. And God did not want Isaac to become an idol in Abraham's life. 

Well, it was a test of love, wasn't it? "Abraham loved him deeply—your only son Isaac, whom you love." It was a test of faith. God had said, "In Isaac is your seed going to be named." Isaac is going to be the one. Then why kill him? It's a test of faith, a test of hope. The whole future of the plan of salvation was wrapped up in that boy, and so it was a test of hope. But you see, his faith must be in God alone, his love must be for God alone, and his hope must be in God alone; otherwise, Isaac has become to Abraham an idol. 

Let's learn some lessons now from Abraham's experience to help us when we face this kind of an experience. Right now, today, God may be calling on some of you to lay your Isaac on the altar. 

Lesson number one: we must learn to recognize God's tests. I think sometimes many Christians lack discernment. Everything that happens they say, "This is a test from God." Not always. When Abraham went down to Egypt in disobedience to God, when Abraham got in trouble in Egypt, that wasn't a test from God—Abraham did that himself. When Abraham went to Gerar and lied about his wife and got in trouble in Gerar, that wasn't a test from God—that was a problem that Abraham created himself. When Ishmael had to be cast out of the family—Hagar and Ishmael—that wasn't a trial from God; that was something that Abraham just had to live with because he made a mistake. You and I sin against God, we disobey God, we get into some kind of difficulty and say, "Well, God is testing me." No, He's not. He's just letting us reap what we sow. Let's not blame every experience of life on God. 

Now there's a contrast between the temptations that come from the devil and the testings that come from the Lord. James 1:12-16. "Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been proved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him. Let no one say when he is tempted, 'I am tempted by God'; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death. Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren." 

You see, temptations come from within us; testings come from above us. Temptations bring out the worst in us; trials bring out the best in us. The devil tempts us that we might sin; the Lord tests us that we might obey. Temptations seem very logical. It's very logical to be tempted. Satan knows this. Here is a student who wants to pass his examination, so the logical thing to do is to cheat. Here is a man who needs money, so the logical thing to do is to falsify his income tax. That's logical—I'm not saying it's right. Temptations are logical; testings are illogical. Everything about this situation in Genesis 22:1-14 seemed unnatural. Here is a man taking his only son—notice that 'only son', Ishmael is no longer considered, is he?—taking his only son whom he loved. It's unnatural to sacrifice a son whom you love. It's unreasonable to do this when all of your hope is wrapped up in him. It even seems unspiritual to do it. You see, testings don't seem logical. When we're tempted, we don't say, "Why am I tempted?" We know why we are tempted. There is plenty of tinder down inside of our sinful hearts, and it doesn't take much of a spark to get that fire blazing. But when we're tested, we say, "Why? Why? Why?" Temptations are logical, but testings are illogical. 

Temptations come to all believers, but testings only come to God's choicest saints. That may shock you. God did not test Lot—Sodom did that. Sodom tempted Lot. Sodom never tempted Abraham. We don't read that the word of the Lord came to Lot saying, "I'm going to test you." God couldn't test Lot—he couldn't take it. But God tested Abraham. God's choicest saints go through the furnace, but remember when you are going through the furnace, God keeps His eye on the clock—He knows how long—and God keeps His hand on the thermostat—He knows how much. 

Temptations come to other people. Other people have been through the same temptation you go through—lust and pride and anger and temper. 1 Corinthians 10:13: "There is no temptation that has taken you but such as is common to man." But testings are tailor-made. God arranges your testings for you alone. And that's what encourages me. God knows what I need. God knows how much I can take. And therefore, when I am facing a testing, I can look up and say, "Lord, You're doing this especially for me. Nobody else is going through exactly what I'm going through, although they've all been through the furnace in one way or another, and therefore I know You can see me through." 

We must learn to recognize God's tests. Secondly, we must learn the reasons for God's tests. Now, testing sometimes seems unreasonable, but God has His reasons for what He does. First of all, He wants to prove our faith. In James 2:21, James tells us that Abraham proved his faith when he offered Isaac his son on the altar. Abraham didn't just talk about it; he did it. How do we know that Abraham was indeed a man of faith? Because Abraham obeyed God. Our tests from God prove our faith—prove that faith is genuine. You've heard me say it many times, allow me to say it again: a faith that can't be tested can't be trusted. And when a person professes to have faith in Jesus Christ, that faith is going to be tested, and he will find out—she will find out—how real that faith is. 

Secondly, I think God puts us through times of testings to glorify Him. Not just to prove our faith, but to bring praise to the Lord. I often turn to 1 Peter 1:6-7. "In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, distressed by trials. Here are the saints of God going through trials. That the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise and honor and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ." 

Now you are not going to know why God did what He did until you see the Lord Jesus. If in your heart you have a bit of bitterness against the Lord—you say, "Why did the Lord take my husband? Why did the Lord take my wife? Why did the baby die? Why did I lose my job? Why this accident? Why this handicap?"—if there's something in your heart, remember this: when Jesus comes, we're going to see the entire scenario. We're going to see the whole plan. And what you have been through, your trials and your testing, will bring glory to the Lord. Now you may not see much of it now—you certainly can bring glory to the Lord now, we ought to, in whatever we do we should glorify Him—but when Jesus Christ comes back, it's going to bring praise to the Lord when everyone sees what God did. 

I think something else is true: the Lord tests us that He might perfect our faith. You say, "Well, Abraham's been walking with the Lord for many years now." Isaac was not a little youngster; he was probably a young man at this time. So Abraham has been walking with the Lord now for perhaps oh, nearly 50 years, we don't know. And yet Abraham has to have his faith perfected. We never get to the point where we can rest in the journey of faith. In the school of faith, you never really graduate. James 1:2-4. "My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials or testings, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience, endurance, perseverance—you don't quit—but let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect"—that means mature—"that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing." You see, the testings that we go through have a way of equipping us for life. Abraham's faith needed to be perfected. Let's remember the purposes, the reasons for God's tests: to prove our faith, and to praise the Lord, and to perfect us in our Christian faith. 

Thirdly, we must learn the resources that are available for passing the test. It's good to have these spiritual resources available. Now some people depend on their feelings. Think of Abraham's feelings. "Take now your son, your only son Isaac"—which means laughter, the joy that he brought—"whom you love." Now that phrase there in Genesis 22:2 is enough to break your heart. Here are Abraham and Isaac who love each other. They spend three days traveling together, and all during those three days, Abraham is saying, "He's my son, he's my only son, he's the son whom I love, he's the son of promise." Everything was wrapped up in that boy. Isaac was a miracle child—a living miracle. So his faith was wrapped up in Isaac, his love and his hope. All the future rested in that boy, and God said, "Give him back to Me." 

Do you want to hold onto God's blessings? I'll tell you how to do it: give those blessings back to Him. If He's given you children, give those children to Him. If He's given you wealth, give that wealth to Him. If He's given you health, special gifts, give them to Him. The only way to keep is to give. The only way to work is to worship. And Abraham obeyed God and he went up on the mountain and offered his son to the Lord. Abraham did not depend on his own feelings. He'd settled that a long time ago. A long time ago, Abraham had decided not to live by feelings but to live by faith. Nothing wrong with feelings. He didn't harden his heart against Isaac. He didn't denounce or renounce Isaac. No, he still loved him, he still rejoiced in him, but those feelings were under the control of the Lord. 

Abraham didn't depend on other people. Sarah was left behind in the camp. Isaac and Abraham went together to the top of the mountain. The two men who traveled with them, the two servants, were left behind. Abraham's soul is silent before God. Too many times when we're going through trials, we reach for the telephone, we run next door. Now nothing wrong with that. It's good to have friends, church family, to pray for you and support you. But ultimately, you must go through the trial you and God alone. We can pray for you, we can encourage you, we can share promises with you, but only you can believe. 

You say, "How could Abraham do this?" Abraham had experienced in his body the resurrection power of God. Abraham was as good as dead when he was able to bring Isaac into the world. And Abraham was saying, "A God who could resurrect my dead body is able to resurrect the dead body of my son." He was living in the resurrection power of God. That's what Paul meant when he said, "That I may know Him and the power of His resurrection." Abraham was able to go through this test because he had the divine resources that he needed. 

You see, a crisis does not make a man; a crisis reveals what a man is made of. What life does to us depends upon what life finds in us. Abraham had a difficult time building this altar because Isaac was going to be the sacrifice, but had Abraham not built all of the other altars, he could never have built this one. Had Abraham not taken time day after day to worship God—the Everlasting God, El Olam; El Elyon, God Most High; El Shaddai, the God who is sufficient—if he hadn't known God, he could not have gone through this test. 

The time to get your roots down deep is before the storm comes. That's why it's important every day for us to read the word of God, to pray, to worship God. Too often we depend on circumstances or people around us or near us; we don't lift our hearts to the Everlasting God. Paul said to the Philippians, "I have learned in whatsoever state I am therewith to be content." And the word translated 'content' means 'contained'. "I have learned to be contained." That means self-sufficient—not in himself, but in the Lord. Philippians 4:11.

If we depend on circumstances or people or material resources to see us through, we're going to fail. But if we have our resources down within, if we carry with us that inner power of the Holy Spirit of God, then the test is not going to be that difficult, and God is going to give us the grace to go through. You see, we don't live by explanations; we live by promises. And Abraham had all the promises of God declaimed. If you and I are going to be victorious in the tests of life, we must recognize God's tests—they're not the same as temptations. We must know the reasons for God's tests—He has His purposes in mind. And most of all, we must draw upon the resources that God gives to us: the resurrection power of Jesus Christ at work in our lives.