1 00:00:00,650 --> 00:00:03,653 Genesis 22: 1 through 19. 2 00:00:04,587 --> 00:00:08,358 After these things, God tested Abraham and said to him, Abraham. 3 00:00:08,725 --> 00:00:11,177 And he said, here I am. 4 00:00:11,177 --> 00:00:15,432 He said, take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, 5 00:00:15,448 --> 00:00:19,502 and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering 6 00:00:19,736 --> 00:00:22,739 on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you. 7 00:00:22,922 --> 00:00:26,159 So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, 8 00:00:26,493 --> 00:00:29,929 and took two of his young men with him, and his son Isaac. 9 00:00:30,797 --> 00:00:33,800 And he cut the wood for burnt offering, and arose 10 00:00:33,833 --> 00:00:37,737 and went to the place of which God had told him on the third day. 11 00:00:38,038 --> 00:00:41,508 Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place from afar. 12 00:00:42,409 --> 00:00:45,678 Then Abraham said to his young men, stay here with the donkey. 13 00:00:46,079 --> 00:00:50,100 I and the boy will go over there and worship and come again to you. 14 00:00:50,100 --> 00:00:54,437 And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, and laid it on Isaac his son. 15 00:00:55,071 --> 00:00:58,074 And he took in his hand the fire and the knife. 16 00:00:58,341 --> 00:01:00,026 So they went, both of them together. 17 00:01:01,010 --> 00:01:04,013 And Isaac said to his father, Abraham, my father. 18 00:01:04,431 --> 00:01:06,483 And he said, here I am, my son. 19 00:01:06,483 --> 00:01:09,319 He said, behold the fire and the wood. 20 00:01:09,319 --> 00:01:11,988 But where is the lamb for a burnt offering? 21 00:01:11,988 --> 00:01:16,142 Abraham said, God will provide the lamb for a burnt offering, my son. 22 00:01:16,526 --> 00:01:19,345 So they went both of them together. 23 00:01:19,345 --> 00:01:22,198 When they came to the place of which God had told him, 24 00:01:22,198 --> 00:01:26,186 Abraham built the altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound 25 00:01:26,186 --> 00:01:29,606 Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar on top of the wood. 26 00:01:30,507 --> 00:01:34,377 Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to slaughter his son. 27 00:01:34,561 --> 00:01:39,182 But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, Abraham, Abraham. 28 00:01:39,799 --> 00:01:41,251 And he said, here I am. 29 00:01:41,251 --> 00:01:44,871 He said, do not lay your hand on the boy, or do anything to him. 30 00:01:45,205 --> 00:01:47,991 For now I know that you fear God, seeing 31 00:01:47,991 --> 00:01:51,394 you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me. 32 00:01:51,411 --> 00:01:54,597 And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, 33 00:01:54,981 --> 00:01:58,201 behind him was a ram caught in a thicket by his horns. 34 00:01:59,068 --> 00:02:02,989 And Abraham went and took the ram, and offered it up as a burnt offering. 35 00:02:03,123 --> 00:02:04,824 Instead of his son. 36 00:02:05,942 --> 00:02:08,545 So Abraham called the name of that place. 37 00:02:08,545 --> 00:02:11,598 The Lord will provide, as it is said to this day, 38 00:02:12,031 --> 00:02:14,634 on the mount of the Lord it shall be provided. 39 00:02:14,634 --> 00:02:17,871 And the angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time from heaven, 40 00:02:17,871 --> 00:02:23,193 and said, by myself I have sworn, declares the Lord, because you have done this, 41 00:02:23,359 --> 00:02:26,362 and have not withheld your son, your only son. 42 00:02:26,362 --> 00:02:30,350 I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring 43 00:02:30,500 --> 00:02:34,304 as the stars of the heavens and the sand that is on the seashore, 44 00:02:34,320 --> 00:02:37,307 and your offspring shall possess the gate of his enemies, 45 00:02:37,340 --> 00:02:40,610 and in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed. 46 00:02:40,877 --> 00:02:43,530 Because you have obeyed my voice. 47 00:02:43,530 --> 00:02:46,616 So Abraham returned to his young men, and they arose 48 00:02:46,616 --> 00:02:48,768 and went together to Beersheba. 49 00:02:48,768 --> 00:02:50,720 And Abraham lived at Beersheba. 50 00:02:53,840 --> 00:02:54,707 Well, good morning, and 51 00:02:54,707 --> 00:02:57,810 welcome to the weekend gathering of Christ Community Chapel. 52 00:02:57,827 --> 00:02:58,878 My name is Zach. 53 00:02:58,878 --> 00:03:04,200 I'm one of the pastors here, and I'm so glad we get to be part of your weekend. 54 00:03:04,584 --> 00:03:07,587 Now, this is week nine of our ten week summer series. 55 00:03:07,587 --> 00:03:10,940 Recalling promises made, promises kept. 56 00:03:10,974 --> 00:03:16,045 We're looking at the faithfulness of God in the story of Abraham, 57 00:03:16,045 --> 00:03:19,048 and the hopes that we might develop some confidence 58 00:03:19,249 --> 00:03:23,820 that the same God who makes promises and keeps them to Abraham 59 00:03:24,087 --> 00:03:28,675 is the same God who has made promises and will keep them for us. 60 00:03:29,058 --> 00:03:30,093 You know, it's interesting. 61 00:03:30,093 --> 00:03:35,148 This story is so powerful and so evocative when I read it. 62 00:03:35,665 --> 00:03:39,652 I have a million questions I want to ask, but there's one question 63 00:03:39,652 --> 00:03:43,890 that goes to the forefront of my mind and if you have been following 64 00:03:43,890 --> 00:03:45,959 along this summer, this will make sense to you. 65 00:03:45,959 --> 00:03:49,946 And every time I read this story, I wonder, who is this guy? 66 00:03:51,080 --> 00:03:52,081 I mean, the story of 67 00:03:52,081 --> 00:03:56,069 Abraham begins in Genesis 12, and for the ten chapters 68 00:03:56,069 --> 00:04:02,275 between that moment and this moment, we see a lot of low moments for Abraham. 69 00:04:02,458 --> 00:04:06,412 I mean, two separate times he's worried that the regional ruler 70 00:04:06,412 --> 00:04:10,617 of the area he's in will so desire his wife, Sarah. 71 00:04:10,617 --> 00:04:13,469 That'll have Abraham killed so that he can take her. 72 00:04:13,469 --> 00:04:16,522 So on two separate occasions, Abraham says that she's 73 00:04:16,856 --> 00:04:19,859 his sister and just gives her to the ruler. 74 00:04:20,310 --> 00:04:24,747 Not exactly a man of moral courage or faithfulness. 75 00:04:25,198 --> 00:04:28,584 A few chapters later, Sarah will come to Abraham and say, hey, 76 00:04:28,584 --> 00:04:32,338 I know God has promised us a son, but I can't seem to get pregnant. 77 00:04:32,338 --> 00:04:36,626 So what if he just slept with my slave girl and got her pregnant? 78 00:04:36,626 --> 00:04:39,228 And then we took the baby and got rid of her? 79 00:04:39,228 --> 00:04:42,181 And Abraham says, yeah, that sounds like a plan. 80 00:04:43,466 --> 00:04:44,517 Not exactly a man 81 00:04:44,517 --> 00:04:47,520 of moral courage and faithfulness. 82 00:04:47,570 --> 00:04:49,939 And the thing is, when I read those stories, 83 00:04:49,939 --> 00:04:51,708 I hope you'll understand this in the spirit. 84 00:04:51,708 --> 00:04:55,628 I mean it, they make sense to me, not Abraham's choices. 85 00:04:55,645 --> 00:04:59,999 I mean more like I know what it is to struggle with faith. 86 00:04:59,999 --> 00:05:03,019 I know what it is to struggle with obedience to 87 00:05:03,202 --> 00:05:06,806 to lack courage in the key moments of life. 88 00:05:07,173 --> 00:05:10,159 Low moment. Abraham, I get 89 00:05:10,343 --> 00:05:14,580 and then I get to Genesis 22 and the same guy hears God 90 00:05:14,580 --> 00:05:18,017 say, hey, tell you what, take your son, go up a mountain and kill him. 91 00:05:18,534 --> 00:05:21,537 And the guy just goes, absolutely. 92 00:05:22,021 --> 00:05:24,107 I mean, he's unwavering. 93 00:05:24,107 --> 00:05:26,192 No hesitation. 94 00:05:26,192 --> 00:05:28,861 And I'm wondering what changed. 95 00:05:28,861 --> 00:05:31,097 How can this be the same guy? 96 00:05:31,097 --> 00:05:33,983 Because that Abraham is a little harder for me to understand. 97 00:05:33,983 --> 00:05:36,502 Maybe he's a little harder for you to understand. 98 00:05:36,502 --> 00:05:39,922 And that is really the question I want to try to answer this weekend. 99 00:05:40,373 --> 00:05:42,558 What is it that is changed in Abraham? 100 00:05:42,558 --> 00:05:46,796 What is it that he understands that enables him, in this incredibly 101 00:05:46,796 --> 00:05:50,967 difficult moment, to be so trusting of God? 102 00:05:51,601 --> 00:05:53,720 Hey, if you have a Bible, would you take it out? 103 00:05:53,720 --> 00:05:56,189 Open at the Genesis chapter 22. 104 00:05:56,189 --> 00:06:01,044 That's the passage we heard read so wonderfully just a few minutes ago. 105 00:06:01,677 --> 00:06:04,497 Perfectly okay to take out your phone or your tablet. 106 00:06:04,497 --> 00:06:08,785 And, hey, if you're here and you're new, new to church, new to the Bible, 107 00:06:08,785 --> 00:06:10,203 maybe it's been a while. 108 00:06:10,203 --> 00:06:12,055 I'm so glad that you're here. 109 00:06:12,055 --> 00:06:16,142 And I want you to know that that this message is as much for you as it is 110 00:06:16,342 --> 00:06:17,093 anyone else. 111 00:06:17,093 --> 00:06:20,129 You do not need to hold a Bible to follow along. 112 00:06:20,163 --> 00:06:23,366 The words will be on the screen behind me, but if you'd like to, 113 00:06:23,549 --> 00:06:27,003 there's a Bible in the pew in front of you or in the back of East Hall. 114 00:06:27,153 --> 00:06:30,440 You can grab that and actually use one of those Bibles just for you. 115 00:06:30,590 --> 00:06:34,010 So I can tell you that today's reading is on page 15. 116 00:06:34,043 --> 00:06:35,578 Thanks for being here. 117 00:06:35,578 --> 00:06:37,997 But however you're going to get to Genesis 22, 118 00:06:37,997 --> 00:06:42,402 let me hold out to you for points that I'm going to use as an outline. 119 00:06:42,418 --> 00:06:43,102 Very simple. 120 00:06:43,102 --> 00:06:47,306 I want to show you four significant moments in this story. 121 00:06:47,757 --> 00:06:48,391 Here they are. 122 00:06:48,391 --> 00:06:52,945 First, I want to show you the question, then the confidence, 123 00:06:53,312 --> 00:06:56,749 the miracle and the example, the question, 124 00:06:56,749 --> 00:07:00,453 the confidence, the miracle and the example. 125 00:07:00,686 --> 00:07:02,221 All right. Let's start with the first one. 126 00:07:02,221 --> 00:07:03,723 The question. 127 00:07:03,723 --> 00:07:06,926 This passage really begins with a command. 128 00:07:07,310 --> 00:07:11,581 I mean, God tells Abraham what he wants him to do. 129 00:07:11,697 --> 00:07:14,300 He doesn't ask him if he wants to. 130 00:07:14,300 --> 00:07:16,552 He doesn't give him two choices. 131 00:07:16,552 --> 00:07:19,172 He just speaks a command. 132 00:07:19,172 --> 00:07:22,375 But I think underneath that command is a question. 133 00:07:22,675 --> 00:07:24,560 Let me read it to you and then I'll show you. 134 00:07:24,560 --> 00:07:26,879 This is Genesis 22, the first two verses. 135 00:07:26,879 --> 00:07:28,498 Here's what it says. 136 00:07:28,498 --> 00:07:31,584 After these things, God tested Abraham 137 00:07:31,851 --> 00:07:34,670 and said to him, Abraham. 138 00:07:34,670 --> 00:07:37,490 And he said, here I am. 139 00:07:37,490 --> 00:07:41,928 He said, take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, 140 00:07:42,361 --> 00:07:46,399 and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt 141 00:07:46,399 --> 00:07:50,736 offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you. 142 00:07:50,753 --> 00:07:54,140 God says, here's what I want you to do, Abraham, that son 143 00:07:54,290 --> 00:07:58,494 that I've given you, that son of promise, the one you waited forever to have. 144 00:07:58,494 --> 00:08:03,332 The one who represents all the promises I've made to you. 145 00:08:03,332 --> 00:08:05,067 I want you to take him up a mountain. 146 00:08:05,067 --> 00:08:08,004 And I want you to sacrifice him to me. 147 00:08:08,004 --> 00:08:09,689 That's a command, right? 148 00:08:09,689 --> 00:08:12,692 But underneath it is a question. 149 00:08:13,459 --> 00:08:17,530 What God is saying is Abraham your son, the son I have given you. 150 00:08:17,547 --> 00:08:18,264 Look at what he says. 151 00:08:18,264 --> 00:08:21,918 Your son, your only son, whom you love. 152 00:08:21,918 --> 00:08:22,502 Abraham. 153 00:08:22,502 --> 00:08:26,989 The thing that matters most to you in all of the world. 154 00:08:28,291 --> 00:08:31,377 Will you give me that? 155 00:08:32,428 --> 00:08:36,782 I'll frame this as the question because I think this is the question. 156 00:08:36,782 --> 00:08:40,736 Most of us live in fear that God will ask of us. 157 00:08:41,837 --> 00:08:44,941 That's what keeps a lot of people, I think, from really getting serious 158 00:08:44,941 --> 00:08:46,676 about a relationship with God. 159 00:08:46,676 --> 00:08:48,144 It's what keeps a lot of people, 160 00:08:48,144 --> 00:08:51,781 I think, stuck in a mediocre relationship with God. 161 00:08:52,081 --> 00:08:55,368 It is this idea that if I were to really get serious 162 00:08:55,368 --> 00:09:00,273 about pursuing God, if I were really to get serious about hearing his voice, 163 00:09:00,439 --> 00:09:05,278 I'm afraid he would want to talk about the one thing I don't want to talk about, 164 00:09:06,445 --> 00:09:09,532 that he would ask for the one thing 165 00:09:09,715 --> 00:09:12,685 that I don't want to give. 166 00:09:12,685 --> 00:09:14,971 That's what Isaac represents. 167 00:09:14,971 --> 00:09:16,439 And you know what this story is telling you 168 00:09:17,723 --> 00:09:20,726 is he absolutely will 169 00:09:21,260 --> 00:09:22,912 not thing that you don't want to talk about, 170 00:09:22,912 --> 00:09:27,350 the thing that you don't want to give your your sexuality, your living status, 171 00:09:27,350 --> 00:09:33,122 your career, your your bitterness, your family dynamic, whatever it is 172 00:09:33,122 --> 00:09:37,410 that you don't want to talk about, that you don't want to give, 173 00:09:38,010 --> 00:09:41,781 he will ask for, well, I'll give you a story about this from my own family. 174 00:09:41,781 --> 00:09:44,450 I've told you this before, but it makes the point 175 00:09:44,450 --> 00:09:47,687 when my son deacon, who's 17 now, when he was nine, 176 00:09:47,937 --> 00:09:51,841 he came to me one day and said, dad, I think I'm ready to follow Jesus. 177 00:09:51,841 --> 00:09:54,176 I'm ready to begin my relationship with God. 178 00:09:54,176 --> 00:09:54,777 I mean, I believe 179 00:09:54,777 --> 00:09:58,581 Jesus is the Son of God, that he lived and died and rose from the dead. 180 00:09:58,581 --> 00:10:01,367 And I'm ready to give my life to him now. 181 00:10:01,367 --> 00:10:03,052 That's awesome to hear your son say. 182 00:10:03,052 --> 00:10:06,956 But I'm also a pastor, and there's always a danger of kids growing up 183 00:10:06,956 --> 00:10:10,977 and that kind of home and seeking approval through spiritual progress. 184 00:10:11,360 --> 00:10:14,630 So I just said to him, hey, deacon, what do you want to be when you grow up? 185 00:10:15,181 --> 00:10:19,251 And at the time he said, I want to be a video game designer. 186 00:10:19,969 --> 00:10:22,138 And I was like, man, that would be an awesome job. 187 00:10:22,138 --> 00:10:23,873 Hey, I got a question for you. 188 00:10:23,873 --> 00:10:27,560 What if Jesus didn't want you to be a video game designer? 189 00:10:27,560 --> 00:10:30,079 What if. And I'm going to use this example. 190 00:10:30,079 --> 00:10:30,746 I'll tell you why. 191 00:10:30,746 --> 00:10:33,749 So what if he wanted you to be a janitor instead? 192 00:10:33,799 --> 00:10:35,751 Now, there's no shame in being a janitor. 193 00:10:35,751 --> 00:10:37,103 But I've seen my son clean, 194 00:10:38,604 --> 00:10:40,856 so I knew that wouldn't appeal to him. 195 00:10:40,856 --> 00:10:43,859 And he thought about it for a minute, and he said, 196 00:10:44,927 --> 00:10:47,663 I'm going to be a video game designer. 197 00:10:47,663 --> 00:10:50,883 And I said, I totally get it, that it sounds like 198 00:10:50,883 --> 00:10:54,170 you're not really ready to follow God. 199 00:10:55,438 --> 00:10:56,906 Here's what I mean by that. 200 00:10:56,906 --> 00:10:58,524 You might have noticed if you've driven through Hudson, 201 00:10:58,524 --> 00:11:01,610 you certainly notice if you've lived in Hudson, that we've decided recently 202 00:11:01,610 --> 00:11:04,613 to build a sidewalk to everywhere, 203 00:11:05,448 --> 00:11:07,667 which I think is the worst. 204 00:11:07,667 --> 00:11:10,169 Not because I'm anti sidewalk, but because 205 00:11:10,169 --> 00:11:13,105 it's ruining my life as a commuter. 206 00:11:13,105 --> 00:11:15,708 So, for example, they build a sidewalk right out here in front of the church. 207 00:11:15,708 --> 00:11:18,077 You can walk from here to downtown Hudson. 208 00:11:18,077 --> 00:11:21,080 I don't know why you would want to do that, but you could 209 00:11:21,113 --> 00:11:22,832 if you wanted to. 210 00:11:22,832 --> 00:11:26,635 Now imagine for a second that I lost my mind one day and decided 211 00:11:26,635 --> 00:11:29,755 that I was going to walk from here to downtown Hudson for a lunch, 212 00:11:30,506 --> 00:11:33,893 and I leave, and I hit the sidewalk and I start walking, and after a while 213 00:11:33,893 --> 00:11:35,211 I run into you. 214 00:11:35,211 --> 00:11:37,196 You're walking somewhere too, because, hey, why not? 215 00:11:37,196 --> 00:11:39,382 We got the sidewalks right? 216 00:11:39,382 --> 00:11:42,201 And so we're walking together because we know each other from church 217 00:11:42,201 --> 00:11:43,319 and we're talking a little bit. 218 00:11:43,319 --> 00:11:47,840 And to every car that passes, it looks like we're walking together 219 00:11:49,375 --> 00:11:50,393 until eventually 220 00:11:50,393 --> 00:11:53,396 you turn one way and I go the other. 221 00:11:53,396 --> 00:11:55,131 Here's what I think this question is all about. 222 00:11:55,131 --> 00:11:59,001 You know, it's possible for a while for it to look like you're following God. 223 00:12:01,404 --> 00:12:02,071 But really, he's 224 00:12:02,071 --> 00:12:05,057 just going the way you are already going. 225 00:12:05,274 --> 00:12:08,060 I mean, if you're a conservative, you love when the Bible talks 226 00:12:08,060 --> 00:12:13,349 about justice and family values and the importance of a nuclear family. 227 00:12:13,916 --> 00:12:16,702 If you're a liberal, you love when God talks about love 228 00:12:16,702 --> 00:12:20,573 for your neighbor, love the stranger showing mercy for a while. 229 00:12:20,573 --> 00:12:21,207 You can come in. 230 00:12:21,207 --> 00:12:23,993 If the sermons are right and the subjects are right, 231 00:12:23,993 --> 00:12:27,213 you will just naturally find yourself agreeing with God 232 00:12:27,213 --> 00:12:29,448 and you can walk with him for a little while. 233 00:12:29,448 --> 00:12:32,034 And to everyone around you, it looks like you're together. 234 00:12:34,770 --> 00:12:37,757 Until eventually he wants to go one way 235 00:12:38,791 --> 00:12:41,310 and you don't. 236 00:12:41,310 --> 00:12:44,313 You see, that's what it really means to follow God, isn't it? 237 00:12:45,030 --> 00:12:47,299 Not just that you walk with him when he was already going the way 238 00:12:47,299 --> 00:12:50,669 you were going, but when he wants to zig and you would have otherwise zagged, 239 00:12:52,071 --> 00:12:53,756 you go his way. 240 00:12:53,756 --> 00:12:56,659 You see, my son deacon was saying, dad, I'm ready to walk with God. 241 00:12:56,659 --> 00:12:59,662 And he really was to a point. 242 00:13:01,163 --> 00:13:03,349 But you see, God wants something bigger 243 00:13:03,349 --> 00:13:06,352 for Abraham than to be an advisor. 244 00:13:07,169 --> 00:13:08,571 Here's a story he's writing. 245 00:13:08,571 --> 00:13:12,358 He wants Abraham to go with him on a journey that's going to last 246 00:13:12,358 --> 00:13:13,259 through eternity. 247 00:13:13,259 --> 00:13:15,361 And God wants that for you, too. 248 00:13:15,361 --> 00:13:17,630 And here's what I think this question is all about. 249 00:13:17,630 --> 00:13:21,300 The one thing that you don't want to give God is the thing 250 00:13:21,300 --> 00:13:23,602 that will make you turn away from him in the end. 251 00:13:26,672 --> 00:13:29,191 So if God loves you, 252 00:13:29,191 --> 00:13:31,727 he has to ask about it. 253 00:13:31,727 --> 00:13:33,212 That's the question. 254 00:13:33,212 --> 00:13:34,547 Here's the second thing I want you to see. 255 00:13:34,547 --> 00:13:37,917 Not just the question, but the confidence. 256 00:13:37,917 --> 00:13:39,301 The confidence. 257 00:13:39,301 --> 00:13:44,373 Abraham doesn't hesitate and it's incredible. 258 00:13:44,540 --> 00:13:45,357 Look what happens. 259 00:13:45,357 --> 00:13:47,877 God says, take your son, take him up the mountain and kill him. 260 00:13:47,877 --> 00:13:48,861 And this is what happens. 261 00:13:48,861 --> 00:13:51,197 Abraham, verse three, Genesis 22 says this. 262 00:13:51,197 --> 00:13:54,200 So Abraham rose early in the morning, 263 00:13:54,767 --> 00:13:56,669 saddled his donkey, 264 00:13:56,669 --> 00:14:00,139 and took two of his young men with him and his son Isaac. 265 00:14:00,773 --> 00:14:03,776 And he cut the wood for the burnt offering, and arose 266 00:14:03,776 --> 00:14:06,929 and went to the place of which God had told him. 267 00:14:06,929 --> 00:14:10,165 Do you remember when God came to Abraham and said he was going to destroy Sodom 268 00:14:10,165 --> 00:14:11,033 and Gomorrah? 269 00:14:11,033 --> 00:14:14,069 And Abraham spent like half an hour negotiating with God? 270 00:14:14,069 --> 00:14:15,571 You remember that story here? 271 00:14:15,571 --> 00:14:18,440 God says, take your son, your only son, your son that you love. 272 00:14:18,440 --> 00:14:20,059 Take him up a mountain and kill him. 273 00:14:20,059 --> 00:14:21,143 And Abraham just gets 274 00:14:21,143 --> 00:14:24,563 sets his alarm for 5:00 in the morning, gets up and packs the stuff. 275 00:14:25,097 --> 00:14:28,367 He gets some servants, he gets a knife, he gets Isaac, 276 00:14:28,400 --> 00:14:31,287 he gets a donkey because even he doesn't believe in walking. 277 00:14:35,007 --> 00:14:38,010 He doesn't hesitate. 278 00:14:38,928 --> 00:14:41,280 How can that be? 279 00:14:41,280 --> 00:14:44,567 How could you ever have God ask you for the one thing 280 00:14:44,717 --> 00:14:46,068 you don't want to talk about? 281 00:14:46,068 --> 00:14:49,321 How could God ever say he wants to talk about living with your boyfriend? 282 00:14:50,789 --> 00:14:53,792 He wants to talk about who you're sleeping with. 283 00:14:53,943 --> 00:14:56,929 He has a different career path in mind. 284 00:14:56,996 --> 00:14:59,999 He wants you to go to the family thing and say you're sorry. 285 00:15:00,149 --> 00:15:02,301 How can God ever ask that? 286 00:15:02,301 --> 00:15:06,021 And unflinching unhesitatingly, you just 287 00:15:06,021 --> 00:15:09,024 go, sure. 288 00:15:09,291 --> 00:15:12,294 Where does Abraham's confidence come from? 289 00:15:13,228 --> 00:15:15,681 Well, I have to tell you, if you read the story, 290 00:15:15,681 --> 00:15:19,802 there are signs that Abraham knows how it's going to end. 291 00:15:20,219 --> 00:15:20,936 It's pretty weird. 292 00:15:20,936 --> 00:15:23,973 Look with me at verse five, Genesis 22, verse five. 293 00:15:23,989 --> 00:15:27,026 This is the first sign that Abraham knows how the story is going to go. 294 00:15:27,026 --> 00:15:27,743 It says, 295 00:15:27,743 --> 00:15:31,547 Then Abraham said to his young men, that's the servants that he took with him. 296 00:15:31,730 --> 00:15:33,198 Stay here with the donkey. 297 00:15:34,249 --> 00:15:35,117 I and the boy 298 00:15:35,117 --> 00:15:38,120 will go over there and worship and come again to you. 299 00:15:38,270 --> 00:15:39,471 Do you see what he says? 300 00:15:39,471 --> 00:15:41,540 He says you to stay here. Abraham. 301 00:15:41,540 --> 00:15:44,576 Isaac and I are going up the mountain to worship, and then we'll be back. 302 00:15:47,696 --> 00:15:50,516 How how is Isaac coming back? 303 00:15:50,516 --> 00:15:51,650 Then look at verse seven. 304 00:15:51,650 --> 00:15:54,153 Here's another sign. He knows how the story is going to end. 305 00:15:54,153 --> 00:15:54,720 Verse seven. 306 00:15:54,720 --> 00:15:57,723 And Isaac said to his father, Abraham, my father. 307 00:15:58,190 --> 00:16:00,359 And he said, here I am, my son. 308 00:16:00,359 --> 00:16:02,578 And he said, behold the fire and the wood. 309 00:16:02,578 --> 00:16:04,563 But but where is the lamb? 310 00:16:04,563 --> 00:16:07,132 For a burnt offering? 311 00:16:07,132 --> 00:16:09,918 And Abraham said, God will provide 312 00:16:09,918 --> 00:16:13,222 for himself the lamb for a burnt offering. 313 00:16:13,739 --> 00:16:16,041 My son 314 00:16:16,041 --> 00:16:17,876 Abraham seems to know 315 00:16:17,876 --> 00:16:21,714 how this story is going to go, but God never tells him. 316 00:16:21,714 --> 00:16:23,999 God never says what's going to happen. 317 00:16:23,999 --> 00:16:28,771 He gives them no indication of how this story is going to end. 318 00:16:28,921 --> 00:16:32,191 So how is Abraham so sure? 319 00:16:33,208 --> 00:16:33,559 Great. 320 00:16:33,559 --> 00:16:37,646 It's a great question, and it's a question I wouldn't be able to answer for you, 321 00:16:37,646 --> 00:16:38,547 except for this. 322 00:16:38,547 --> 00:16:42,301 In the second half of the Bible, you got act one, the Old Testament 323 00:16:42,301 --> 00:16:43,702 act to the New Testament. 324 00:16:43,702 --> 00:16:47,222 In the book of Hebrews chapter 11, the writer of Hebrews 325 00:16:47,222 --> 00:16:50,426 tells us where Abraham's confidence came from. 326 00:16:50,426 --> 00:16:51,143 Here's what it says. 327 00:16:51,143 --> 00:16:54,146 Hebrews 1117 through 19 says this 328 00:16:55,197 --> 00:16:57,149 by faith Abraham, 329 00:16:57,149 --> 00:17:00,152 when he was tested, offered up Isaac. 330 00:17:01,170 --> 00:17:05,007 And he who had received the promises was in the act of offering up 331 00:17:05,007 --> 00:17:10,713 his only son, of whom it was said, Through Isaac shall your offspring be named. 332 00:17:10,946 --> 00:17:16,368 He considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead, 333 00:17:17,936 --> 00:17:21,557 from which, figuratively speaking, he did receive him back. 334 00:17:21,557 --> 00:17:23,092 Do you hear what the writer is saying? 335 00:17:23,092 --> 00:17:28,163 He's saying that Abraham was so sure who God was. 336 00:17:28,497 --> 00:17:32,668 Abraham was so confident that God could not lie, 337 00:17:32,818 --> 00:17:36,538 that God did not break his promises, that he believed 338 00:17:36,538 --> 00:17:40,375 even if he went up the mountain, and even if he killed his son, 339 00:17:40,559 --> 00:17:42,511 God would just raise him from the dead. 340 00:17:43,529 --> 00:17:45,631 You see, Abraham is telling us 341 00:17:45,631 --> 00:17:49,968 that the confidence to give your God what you give God, for one thing, 342 00:17:50,102 --> 00:17:53,088 doesn't come from knowing what he's going to do with it. 343 00:17:53,906 --> 00:17:56,341 It doesn't even come from having all the answers. 344 00:17:56,341 --> 00:17:59,328 Here's what it comes from knowing God's 345 00:17:59,611 --> 00:18:02,448 character. 346 00:18:02,448 --> 00:18:05,300 Abraham says, God, I will give you Isaac, 347 00:18:05,300 --> 00:18:08,871 not because I understand you, not because I know what you're going to do. 348 00:18:08,937 --> 00:18:12,207 I will give you Isaac because I know who 349 00:18:12,474 --> 00:18:15,477 you are. 350 00:18:15,594 --> 00:18:15,894 Friends. 351 00:18:15,894 --> 00:18:17,663 Don't you see the only way you could ever give 352 00:18:17,663 --> 00:18:21,750 God that one thing that you don't want to talk about is if you were 100% 353 00:18:21,750 --> 00:18:24,736 sure, you could trust him with it. 354 00:18:25,104 --> 00:18:27,206 Abraham's confidence is an internal. 355 00:18:27,206 --> 00:18:28,640 It's external. 356 00:18:28,640 --> 00:18:30,325 He knows who God is. 357 00:18:30,325 --> 00:18:32,461 Let me show you what happens as a result. 358 00:18:32,461 --> 00:18:34,313 That's the question, the confidence. 359 00:18:34,313 --> 00:18:35,547 Here's the miracle. 360 00:18:35,547 --> 00:18:39,151 It happens in verse 13, right as Abraham's get ready to plunge the knife 361 00:18:39,318 --> 00:18:41,386 into the chest of his son. 362 00:18:41,386 --> 00:18:44,006 Look what happens. Verse 13 says this. 363 00:18:45,207 --> 00:18:46,341 And Abraham lifted 364 00:18:46,341 --> 00:18:50,245 up his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him 365 00:18:50,245 --> 00:18:53,932 was a ram caught in a thicket by his horns. 366 00:18:54,533 --> 00:18:57,920 And Abraham went and took the ram, and offered it up as a burnt offering. 367 00:18:57,920 --> 00:19:00,689 Instead of his son. 368 00:19:00,689 --> 00:19:03,892 You see, Abraham experiences the miraculous. 369 00:19:04,293 --> 00:19:07,112 Isaac experiences the miraculous. 370 00:19:07,112 --> 00:19:11,550 I believe this story becomes the foundation of Isaac's faith. 371 00:19:11,550 --> 00:19:13,952 Remember, God is writing a story. Abraham's going to die. 372 00:19:13,952 --> 00:19:15,537 Isaac's got to carry it on. 373 00:19:15,537 --> 00:19:17,873 This is the story he will look back on. 374 00:19:17,873 --> 00:19:22,077 God does the miraculous right in the moment where it's most needed. 375 00:19:22,077 --> 00:19:27,683 There just happens to be a ram caught in a bush, a substitute for Isaac. 376 00:19:27,683 --> 00:19:29,902 Here's what I think this story is telling us. 377 00:19:29,902 --> 00:19:34,489 If we will give God our one thing 378 00:19:34,489 --> 00:19:39,978 because we know who he is, we will experience the miraculous. 379 00:19:41,630 --> 00:19:42,681 I'll tell you, 380 00:19:42,681 --> 00:19:46,318 in 20 years of pastoral ministry, I've done a lot of counseling. 381 00:19:46,618 --> 00:19:51,056 I've seen a lot of people whose lives have not gone the way they hoped they would. 382 00:19:51,840 --> 00:19:54,509 And as a consequence, they're angry with God. 383 00:19:54,509 --> 00:19:56,245 Why would God let this happen? 384 00:19:56,245 --> 00:19:59,248 How could God let this happen to me? 385 00:19:59,398 --> 00:20:02,401 Can I say something really hard 386 00:20:02,935 --> 00:20:07,322 when you don't give God areas of your life, 387 00:20:09,241 --> 00:20:12,227 then the results are on you. 388 00:20:14,780 --> 00:20:16,398 If you do marriage your way, 389 00:20:16,398 --> 00:20:19,401 you get your results. 390 00:20:20,185 --> 00:20:23,839 If you do sexuality your way, you get your results. 391 00:20:23,839 --> 00:20:26,842 You don't get to blame God for that. 392 00:20:27,025 --> 00:20:29,161 But here's what Abraham is showing us. 393 00:20:29,161 --> 00:20:32,147 If you give God control, 394 00:20:32,598 --> 00:20:35,601 he is on the hook. 395 00:20:36,235 --> 00:20:38,186 If you give God, you're one thing. 396 00:20:38,186 --> 00:20:43,041 If you bring God into all of your life, if you decide that you're walking with him 397 00:20:43,258 --> 00:20:45,477 and where you otherwise would have zigged, 398 00:20:45,477 --> 00:20:47,729 you're going to zag if you were going to turn. 399 00:20:47,729 --> 00:20:50,065 But because of God, you're going this way. 400 00:20:50,065 --> 00:20:53,418 Then wherever God takes you is on him. 401 00:20:53,418 --> 00:20:55,437 Abraham says, God, I have no idea what you're doing. 402 00:20:55,437 --> 00:20:58,674 I have no idea what you're asking, but I know who you are, 403 00:20:58,707 --> 00:21:02,611 so I'm going to give it to you anyways, trusting in your character, 404 00:21:02,611 --> 00:21:06,865 and as a result, he experiences the miraculous of God. 405 00:21:06,865 --> 00:21:10,852 Listen, there is an impotent, mediocre kind of Christianity 406 00:21:10,953 --> 00:21:15,841 that is pervasive in our country and the reason for it is pretty simple. 407 00:21:15,958 --> 00:21:20,579 If you invite God in 85% of your life, you will never get the miraculous. 408 00:21:25,067 --> 00:21:27,052 If God says to Abraham, take your son, 409 00:21:27,052 --> 00:21:28,637 your only son, whom you love, and go up the mountain. 410 00:21:28,637 --> 00:21:30,439 And Abraham says, no. 411 00:21:30,439 --> 00:21:32,641 He can come to church every weekend and sit in the pew. 412 00:21:32,641 --> 00:21:35,627 He's never going to experience God. 413 00:21:37,796 --> 00:21:38,280 So you see, 414 00:21:38,280 --> 00:21:41,283 God has to ask about the one thing 415 00:21:42,234 --> 00:21:46,471 because he wants the miraculous for you. 416 00:21:47,339 --> 00:21:48,407 And I know I get it. 417 00:21:48,407 --> 00:21:52,227 I'm like you if you're if you're at all like me, you have a death grip 418 00:21:52,227 --> 00:21:55,230 on your one thing right now 419 00:21:55,547 --> 00:21:56,064 and you doing. 420 00:21:56,064 --> 00:21:58,950 I just don't know how I could ever do it. 421 00:21:58,950 --> 00:22:01,436 And I know that it's why I have a bonus point this week. 422 00:22:01,436 --> 00:22:03,021 Fourth point. 423 00:22:03,021 --> 00:22:04,189 Not just the question. 424 00:22:04,189 --> 00:22:07,292 Not just the confidence, not just the miracle, but the example. 425 00:22:08,694 --> 00:22:10,312 You know, I know some of us are going, 426 00:22:10,312 --> 00:22:13,582 listen, you haven't really explained how God could even ask such a thing 427 00:22:13,582 --> 00:22:14,282 of Abraham. 428 00:22:14,282 --> 00:22:16,368 It's monstrous to even ask. 429 00:22:16,368 --> 00:22:18,153 Well, there are a lot of reasons for that, 430 00:22:18,153 --> 00:22:20,455 and I'll leave those for future sermons in future days. 431 00:22:20,455 --> 00:22:23,041 But I'll just say this remember this about Abraham. 432 00:22:23,041 --> 00:22:26,028 Abraham is not a regular guy. 433 00:22:26,511 --> 00:22:28,847 God has told Abraham, I'm going to do something 434 00:22:28,847 --> 00:22:31,917 in and through you that's going to bless all the peoples of the earth. 435 00:22:31,917 --> 00:22:36,021 God is doing this story in Abraham's life for you and for me. 436 00:22:36,438 --> 00:22:39,691 He's he's teaching us something about who he is. 437 00:22:39,691 --> 00:22:42,327 And what he's doing is preparing us 438 00:22:42,327 --> 00:22:45,947 for another firstborn son who will go up a mountain. 439 00:22:45,947 --> 00:22:48,033 And that son is Jesus. 440 00:22:49,768 --> 00:22:50,268 Only this 441 00:22:50,268 --> 00:22:53,271 time there won't be a ram in the bush. 442 00:22:54,206 --> 00:22:57,209 This time the son will have to die. 443 00:22:57,692 --> 00:23:02,097 The knife, metaphorically, will be plunged into his chest. 444 00:23:02,097 --> 00:23:05,100 Jesus, God's own son. 445 00:23:05,217 --> 00:23:08,970 You see, a ram can't take away the sin of Abraham and Isaac. 446 00:23:08,970 --> 00:23:12,958 Isaac couldn't take away the sin of Abraham, but Jesus, 447 00:23:13,742 --> 00:23:17,329 the perfectly righteous, perfectly flawless Son of God, 448 00:23:17,629 --> 00:23:22,401 who lives in our place and goes to the cross and becomes our sin 449 00:23:22,551 --> 00:23:28,523 and comes up under the anger and wrath and judgment of God, can pay for our sin. 450 00:23:28,740 --> 00:23:31,593 And when he dies, he says, it is finished. 451 00:23:31,593 --> 00:23:34,429 No more anger, no more wrath, no more judgment. 452 00:23:34,429 --> 00:23:37,649 And three days later, when he raises from the dead, he says, 453 00:23:37,649 --> 00:23:42,270 if you will let me, I will speak for you friends. 454 00:23:42,270 --> 00:23:44,456 The only way you could ever give God 455 00:23:44,456 --> 00:23:48,293 your one thing is to realize he loves you so much. 456 00:23:48,560 --> 00:23:50,846 He gave you his. 457 00:23:53,014 --> 00:23:55,200 This is what the writer of Romans 458 00:23:55,200 --> 00:23:58,353 means when he says this, and what I think is the best verse in the whole Bible. 459 00:23:58,603 --> 00:24:01,606 And you might not agree, but you don't have a microphone. 460 00:24:03,024 --> 00:24:06,027 Romans eight verse 32 says this. 461 00:24:06,328 --> 00:24:09,448 He who did not spare his own son, 462 00:24:10,382 --> 00:24:13,201 but gave him up for us all, 463 00:24:13,201 --> 00:24:16,021 how will he not also with him 464 00:24:16,021 --> 00:24:19,491 graciously give us all things? 465 00:24:19,491 --> 00:24:24,513 He, the writer of Romans, is saying this if he loves us enough to send his son, 466 00:24:24,963 --> 00:24:27,949 if he loves us enough to give his son, 467 00:24:28,950 --> 00:24:32,187 then what do we think he's going to do with the one thing? 468 00:24:33,738 --> 00:24:35,790 Isn't he? For us? 469 00:24:35,790 --> 00:24:38,693 Doesn't he love us? 470 00:24:38,693 --> 00:24:41,696 No. My son deacon eventually came back to me 471 00:24:42,347 --> 00:24:45,350 and he said, okay, dad, I really am ready to follow God. 472 00:24:45,867 --> 00:24:48,353 And he anticipated my question, decided to one up me. 473 00:24:48,353 --> 00:24:52,007 So he said, dad, I'm ready to follow Jesus even if 474 00:24:52,641 --> 00:24:54,926 he wants me to be a pastor like you. 475 00:24:57,779 --> 00:24:58,046 He said, 476 00:24:58,046 --> 00:25:01,049 dad, I'll go even lower than a janitor. 477 00:25:01,800 --> 00:25:04,803 Your life is pretty much my doomsday scenario. 478 00:25:05,303 --> 00:25:07,322 And even if he wants that. 479 00:25:07,322 --> 00:25:10,225 But what deacon came to understand 480 00:25:10,225 --> 00:25:13,311 what Abraham came to understand. What? 481 00:25:13,311 --> 00:25:16,314 I've been praying all week for you to understand 482 00:25:18,033 --> 00:25:21,019 is when you know how much God loves you. 483 00:25:24,956 --> 00:25:25,857 Whichever way 484 00:25:25,857 --> 00:25:29,211 he wants to go is ultimately best. 485 00:25:29,661 --> 00:25:33,081 Not because you know what's down at that end of the sidewalk, 486 00:25:33,081 --> 00:25:38,186 but because you know the one who's asking you to go. 487 00:25:38,970 --> 00:25:42,774 Stop letting the one thing rob you. 488 00:25:45,560 --> 00:25:48,563 Of the destiny God has for you. 489 00:25:48,830 --> 00:25:49,614 Let me pray for us. 490 00:25:49,614 --> 00:25:52,250 Father God, thank you so much for this story. 491 00:25:52,250 --> 00:25:56,421 Thank you for the way it challenges us and threatens us in the same way 492 00:25:56,421 --> 00:25:57,322 it did Abraham. 493 00:25:57,322 --> 00:26:01,192 It's as though you're saying, Zach, take that one thing. 494 00:26:01,192 --> 00:26:03,778 You're only thing, that thing that you love 495 00:26:05,013 --> 00:26:07,399 and give it to me. 496 00:26:07,399 --> 00:26:09,200 God, would you so cause the beauty 497 00:26:09,200 --> 00:26:12,203 of Jesus to shine before us, 498 00:26:12,387 --> 00:26:14,723 that we will eagerly trust you 499 00:26:14,723 --> 00:26:17,726 with our one thing and his name we pray. 500 00:26:17,993 --> 00:26:18,376 Amen.