October 20, 2025 • 32 mins
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When faith meets a knife’s edge, what do you hold onto—God’s promise or your grip? We walk through Hebrews 11 and Genesis 22 to watch Abraham rise early, split wood, and carry obedience up Moriah with a strange mix of logic and trust. He knows Isaac is the child of promise, so he reasons that if the sacrifice goes through, the God who cannot lie can raise the boy from the dead. That’s not blind belief; it’s confidence anchored in a Person who keeps His word.
Along the way, we pause on a single word: offered. To offer is to bring and lay down, to open your hands around what you love most. The story becomes uncomfortably close when we name our own Isaacs—our children, future, finances, pride, and dreams. Hold them too tightly and they become idols; release them and they become worship. We explore how discipline is loving training, why tests are whens not ifs, and how faith grows by acting on what God has already said. Isaac’s likely willingness comes into view, pointing our eyes forward to another Son who shouldered wood and yielded Himself without resistance.
When the angel stops Abraham and a ram appears, the mountain gains a name: The Lord will provide. That ridge in Moriah runs through Jerusalem to Calvary, where Jesus becomes the Lamb, turning future tense into finished work. We end at the table with bread and cup—body broken, blood poured out—receiving grace not because we’re worthy, but because He is. If you’re wrestling with surrender, this conversation offers courage, clarity, and a better grip: not on your plans, but on God’s promise and character.
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Episode Transcript
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SPEAKER_00 (00:12):
Hebrews chapter 11.
Yeah.
Verse 17 through 19 is wherewe're at today.
If you want to find Genesis 22,we'll be over there too.
So that's up to you how you wantto do that.
Heads up.
All right.
Hebrews chapter 11, verse 17,where we're at.
(00:36):
We are moving uh as slow as wewant to move through uh the hall
of faith, Hebrews chapter 11.
Um, it's uh an example of justnormal, average, faulty, I think
would be a good word to throw inthere.
Faulty people who trusted God.
Um, and the thing that weprobably find over and over
again, that maybe I don't alwaysmention it, but we find over and
(00:58):
over again that it teaches usthat one, the life of faith can
be done, right?
This can be done.
You can live a life by faith.
And two, it's totally worth it.
As we look at each one of theseuh people listed here, uh, it
can be done, and it's totallyworth it.
So we have been going throughchapter 11, and lately, as of
(01:20):
lately, last couple times, we'vebeen looking at the life of
Abraham.
He is in the book of Romansknown as the father of the
faithful, father of those whobelieve.
So we find he's a literal fatherby this point, but he's also a
spiritual father, even to us,father in the faith.
Um, now verse 17 is really thehigh point of Abraham's faith.
(01:47):
Let's read it, verse 17 through19.
By faith, Abraham, when he wastested, offered up Isaac, and he
who had received the promisesoffered up his only begotten
son, of whom it was said, InIsaac your seed shall be called,
(02:10):
concluding that God was able toraise him up even from the dead,
from which he also received himin a figurative sense.
So here we are, Abraham, it'sthat high point in his faith.
It's a time of testing.
We don't like tests, no matterwhere we're at, whether it's
(02:30):
school or anywhere else in life.
We don't like trials, we don'tlike tests.
But here we read Abraham inverse 17 when he was tested.
Uh, we test things, we put themthrough testing to determine
sometimes what they're made of,right?
Uh we test metals, that's theway that word is used often, to
test metals to see what theirmakeup is, uh, whether they're
(02:54):
pure gold or they havecontaminants or what, you test
them by putting them underpressure and under heat.
Um, that's one way we look attesting.
But those of you that are stillin school, you know they test
you through tests, right?
No fun to see it what if they ifyou're learning, if you're not
learning, if you're getting itor you're not getting it.
(03:15):
Um tests and trials see whatwe're made of.
And Abraham had trials andtesting throughout his life, but
this one test that we werereading about today is really
the top.
Uh, Abraham, when he was tested.
I think it's important before wemove on to realize that tests
(03:37):
are when's, not ifs.
Abraham, when he was tested,because we are all tested.
There's no question that lifeincludes trials and testing.
Our buddy James in James 1,verse 2, says this, my brethren,
(03:57):
count it all joy when you fallinto various trials, knowing
that the testing of your faithproduces patience.
So James puts it out there clearagain for us.
It's when you fall into varioustrials and when you are tested.
Now, James is going to try totell us, of course, that it's
(04:18):
all worth it.
It's all a good part of lifethat God's working something
good, but it's not fun, right?
When we look at these testingsin our life, they're not fun or
enjoyable.
Now, if you peek over to Hebrewschapter 12, um Hebrews chapter
12, we also see that God notonly tests us, but he
(04:43):
disciplines us.
Um notice uh there in verse 5.
Have you forgotten theexhortation that speaks to you
as sons?
My son, do not despise thechastening or the discipline of
the Lord.
Um, notice there in verse 6,whom the Lord loves, he
chastens, or another word thereis discipline.
(05:04):
So I just figured I'd throw thatin.
That not only is life includetestings, but also discipline.
Uh, the author to the Hebrewshere says, uh, discipline is
good.
Now we think of discipline, andmaybe we flash back to our
childhood when we weredisciplined, and that maybe
wasn't fun for us.
Um, but that word is a little,it's a little more enlightening,
(05:27):
I think, than just that kind ofdiscipline.
It's training.
It's when a coach takes a personthrough some training to make
them better.
So we see these trials, thesetestings, this discipline, this
training to make us better.
We know that, but Abraham hereis going to go through some
(05:50):
training, some discipline, sometesting.
Um, now notice Abraham's testingin verse 17.
When he was tested, uh, heoffered up Isaac.
So we flash back here uh toAbraham's testing when he
(06:13):
offered up Isaac.
Before we move on, notice thatword offered uh there an
offering.
This is also the process ofoffering Isaac.
That word there means to bringand to lay down, is the idea
behind that word offering.
Another place we see this wordoffering, and picture this,
(06:35):
follow this.
Another place we see this wordoffering is in Matthew chapter
2, it's the wise men, as we callthem, the magi from the east,
who came to see the baby Jesus.
He was uh a young child at thatpoint, but they came with gifts.
Remember the gifts?
Gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
(06:57):
And they took and they put thosegifts in front of Jesus, and
they offered these gifts to him.
I think that's important to seeas we look at this thing that
God's doing through testing, andin Abraham's life, offering
Isaac, it's it's an offering.
Picture this, look, it's layingsomething down, it's bringing
(07:18):
something to God and laying itdown.
Uh, it's this idea, this painfulidea of loosing your grip on
something.
I think that's why this idea ofoffering is so vivid for us,
because we can picture it as webring something to God and we
open up our hands, right?
Now, this is not hard for me todo, but it's very hard to let go
(07:41):
of things in our life.
And it depends on how much wevalue those things, right?
Uh, you know, I can build up abunch of trash in my back seat.
That's just kind of how I live.
I'm just being honest.
Whenever we stop at a gasstation, though, with my wife,
the idea is to grab whatevertrash you can and throw it away
now so we don't have to put upwith it, right?
(08:03):
And you know, I've never had ahard time throwing trash away,
right?
I go and I pick it up and I putit over the trash can and I open
my grip and I let it go.
I don't hoard trash, I hoard alot of other things, but I don't
hoard trash because I don'tvalue it.
But check it out.
Then there's things in our lifethat we do value.
(08:24):
Everything else.
I value a lot of things, littlethings.
But but but notice the bigthings in our life that we
value.
Uh, I can still picture 25 yearsago when our foster kids who had
lived with us for a year wentback to live with their mother.
And the little boy, we got himwhen he was one, and and he had
(08:48):
this thick, curly brown hair.
And there's something aboutthick, curly brown hair on a
one-year-old that you just wantto go, yes, you know, I would
say goodnight to him and it wasmess up that hair, you know.
And I remember when I saidgoodbye to those two foster kids
that we loved, and one last timemessed his hair up, and I turned
(09:11):
around and I walked away 25years ago.
And I remember that feeling ofletting go of something that I
loved so much, and and thatreally is the picture here as
Abraham offers Isaac.
This is the story of life.
Now, God is not a taker, I wouldsay he's a giver, but many times
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in life he has us offer things,he has us loose our grip over
something that means a lot tous.
Um, something we want, a dream,our accomplishments, our pride,
laying down our pride andlooking to forgive someone.
(09:55):
Um, it's that opening the gripthat's just so traumatic in the
offering.
And here we get to watch Abrahamgo through it as he offers
Isaac.
Now let's turn to Genesis 22.
You can hold your place inHebrews, but turn to Genesis 22,
(10:17):
and I think it's verse one.
Now, Abraham's account goes tochapter 25.
So we've been through a lot.
Abraham, you know, and Sarah,his wife, were promised uh a
nation, a family, offspring.
(10:38):
Uh, and and it took decadesbefore they experienced that in
their life, before Isaac wasborn.
But now at this point, chapter22, uh, Isaac has arrived.
And he's a grown man, likely, atthis point.
And Genesis 22, verse 1.
(11:00):
It came to pass after thesethings that God tested Abraham
and said to him, Abraham.
And Abraham said, Here I am.
God said, Take now your son,your only son, Isaac, whom you
love, and go to the land ofMoriah and offer him there as a
(11:21):
burnt offering on one of themountains, which I shall tell
the shall tell you.
So here's where the testing allhappens, right?
In Genesis 22, 1.
At one moment, God comes toAbraham and he tests him.
Um, and he says, here's thetest, take now your son, your
(11:47):
only son, whom you love.
God throws that in and offershim as a sacrifice.
Now, you have to remember thewhole story, right?
Isaac is not Abraham's only son.
You remember there was a littlebit of a detour in chapter 16
where Sarah said, This isn'thappening, Abe.
(12:10):
Uh, you take my handmaiden Hagarand have a son with her, and
we'll just call it good.
And so Abraham has another sonuh named Ishmael, right?
But God doesn't recognize him.
Now God will protect Ishmael andhe will raise him up.
He becomes really the Arabnations that we know even today,
(12:32):
our descended from Ishmael.
Um, so God takes care of him,but he only recognizes the son
of promise.
And he says, Abraham, take yourson, your only son, whom you
love.
Now that's a tall order, right?
Uh any of us could see that.
That's a tall order.
But notice verse three.
(12:54):
So Abraham rose early in themorning and saddled his donkey
and took two of his young menwith him, and Isaac, his son.
He split wood for the burntoffering and rose and went to
the place which God had toldhim.
Then on the third day, you couldalways underline that, that's
interesting.
Third day, Abraham lifted up hiseyes and saw the place afar off.
(13:16):
Abraham said to his young men,You stay here with the donkey,
the lad and I will go yonder andworship, and we will come back
to you.
So here Abraham moves right outto do it.
He doesn't waste time early inthe morning.
Uh, he does.
Um, and Abraham goes to followthrough with what God had told
(13:42):
him to.
Um now, Abraham is growing inlogic here, I think, and faith.
We see Abraham's logic, and wealso see his faith because
Abraham knew that God was goingto use Isaac to bless the world.
(14:04):
He was a son of promise.
He was going to build a nationthrough him.
Uh, he really believed it.
Uh, but he's also in faith.
He's growing in faith as Godtests him.
Flip back real quick, hold yourplace here, but flip back real
quick to uh Hebrews verse uh uhchapter 11, verse 18.
(14:29):
Uh talking about Isaac, of whomit is said, in Isaac, your she
seed will be called.
God promised, right?
Uh, concluding that God was ableto raise him up even from the
dead.
So we know what's going on inAbraham's mind at this point
back in Genesis 22.
He's thinking, I'm gonna followthrough what God has told me to
(14:51):
do, offer my son as an offering,a burnt sacrifice on this
mountain.
But I know that he's promisedthat Isaac will become a nation.
Now, Abraham's doing all this inhis head, I think.
He's saying, I know the promise,and I know the God who made this
(15:11):
promise.
God will not let me down.
God will be faithful to do whathe said he's going to do.
And so Abraham concludes thatGod would raise him from the
dead if that's what it takes.
If he sacrificed Isaac, Godwould, at the worst case
(15:33):
scenario, God's going to raisethis kid from the dead because
he made a promise.
So there's some logic in this ofwho God is.
He will not break his promise.
I trust that.
There's this faith that's inGod's heart.
And so God is teaching himalready this thing uh to trust
him more.
(15:53):
It's logical to trust God, thatGod will do what he says he's
gonna do.
Um, and that's what God wants toprovide in testing, just kind of
on the surface.
God wants to produce that in ourlife that we really do trust God
with our heart.
Um, and of course, that's whatwe do daily, right?
(16:16):
God is always encouraging us togo a little deeper, to trust Him
a little more.
And it's varied in all of ourlives.
Uh, do you trust me with yourfuture?
God, I trust you with my future.
Well, loose a grip and let metake it.
Uh, do you trust me with yourfinances?
I trust you with my finances.
(16:37):
Well, loose your grip and let metake care of it.
Do you trust me with your kids?
Now, see, this is where I'm atin life, right?
And I have great kids, but youknow I've learned that you know,
you have a hard time trustingGod sometimes when they're
little.
You know, when they're little,God, you're gonna have to take
care of these kids.
They're just they're toddlersand they're all over the place,
(17:00):
or whatever it is, you know,sicknesses in the world, you
know, you got to trust God withyour kids.
But then they get older.
And, you know, we always did, aswe've talked about, we looked at
18 as like the finish line.
There it is, 18.
I won't have to worry about himanymore.
And yet, you have to trust Godeven more at that point.
(17:21):
You guys know the story.
But the real punchline here isdo we trust God with the things
in our life?
Do we trust God with all thethings in in our life?
And that's what God really wantsto bring about in our life.
(17:41):
Um God wants us to offer, nowpicture it, offer these things
and these people to Him, theloosing of the grip.
Because here's the thing (17:55):
if we don't, if we don't open our grip
on these things in our life,it's idolatry.
There's really nothing else youcan say about it.
There's something in my heartthat I refuse to open up my grip
to God over, it's an idol, andthat's not okay.
(18:15):
And so God says, Abraham, do youtrust me?
Your son, whom you love, Godpoints out, do you trust me?
And by God's grace, I think,Abraham does.
He reasons it out, but he alsotrusts God just simply.
God, you made a promise, I knowyou're not gonna break it.
(18:38):
Yes, I trust you.
Now, there's a final picturehere in chapter 22, and it is
way worth looking at, especiallyas we're gonna spend a little
bit of time here at the end incommunion today.
Um, I think it's verse 6.
So, picture this.
So Abraham took the wood of theburnt offering, and he laid it
(19:02):
on Isaac, his son, and he tookthe fire in his hand and a
knife, and the two of them wenttogether.
But Isaac spoke to Abraham hisfather and said, My father,
Abraham said, Here I am, my son.
Uh, then he said, Look, the fireand the wood, but where is the
(19:22):
lamb for the burnt offering?
Picture what's going on inIsaac's mind here, perhaps.
We have a, you know, I don'tthink he's totally naive to
this, right?
We have uh fire and wood, andyou're gonna have an offering,
but I don't see any sacrifice.
How what are we gonna sacrifice?
And as things went on in thisstory, maybe you know, Isaac
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brightened up even more overwhat was going on.
Um, but but realize this, it'sgonna be a willing sacrifice for
Isaac.
There's a lot ofmisunderstanding, I think, in
our Sunday school world thatIsaac is, you know, like a
10-year-old, a seven-year-old.
It really doesn't matter becauseAbraham's like over a hundred at
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this point, right?
So even if he is, Isaac's gotthe upper hand.
But it's probably more likelythat Isaac is really an adult by
this point.
So as this goes on, Isaac's awilling sacrifice here.
Now, notice again what happens.
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Then he came to the place whichGod had told him.
And Abraham, verse 9, uh, builtan altar there and placed the
wood in order, and he boundIsaac, his son, and laid him on
the altar upon the wood.
And Abraham stretched out hishand, took the knife to slay his
(20:48):
son.
But the angel of the Lord calledto him from heaven and said,
Abraham, Abraham.
So he said, Here I am.
And he said, Do not lay yourhand on the lad or do anything
to him, for now I know that youfear God, since you have not
withheld your son, your onlyson, from me.
(21:09):
So this goes down, and Isaactrusts his father, lets him tie
him up.
And then I think when God stopshim, there's a little bit of uh,
whoo, okay, all right, glad thatthat's done, you know.
Uh quite a bit of relief.
(21:30):
But but notice Abraham's gonnamake this kind of monumental
here in verse 13.
Then Abraham um lifted up hiseyes and looked.
There behind him was a ramcaught in a thicket by its
horns.
So Abraham went and took the ramand offered up for a burnt
offering instead of his son.
(21:50):
And Abraham called the name ofthe place the Lord will provide,
as it is said to this day, inthe mount of the Lord it shall
be provided.
So the testing being over, Goddoes provide an alternate
sacrifice, and we're all veryhappy about that.
(22:11):
An alternate sacrifice.
But here's the thing that mostof you may know, but is so
surprising is where this placeis.
Where is this Mount Moriah?
It's in Jerusalem.
If you've seen the Dome of theRock, uh the theory, part of the
theory of what they believe thatrock is, is this rock that
(22:34):
Abraham was gonna sacrifice hisson.
Now, in their book, it'sIshmael, not Isaac, but but but
this is that place.
So you can picture the city ofJerusalem.
It's on that mountain that thetemple would stand, that Abraham
went to offer his son Isaac.
It's on the same mountain thatJesus would give his life a
(22:59):
sacrifice for us.
And isn't it amazing what Godthrough Abraham says about this
place?
In the mount of the Lord, itwill be provided.
He was in the same spot whereyears later he could have looked
over and seen Jesus dying on thecross in that very spot.
And it's huge, right?
(23:19):
How God, the Father, offers hisonly begotten son.
He loves the world so much.
God so loved the world that hegave his only begotten son that
whosoever believes in him wouldnot perish, but have everlasting
life.
And I think that's where we cometo the deeper point of offering
our lives, is have we offeredour lives in that sense?
(23:43):
Daily we all learn to offersomething else.
We lose the grip of somethingelse that's important to us,
sanctification, getting to trustGod more and more.
But ultimately, we got to cometo that same place of sacrifice
and come back.
We got to come to that sameplace of sacrifice where we see
Jesus dying in our place, aransom for us.
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And God says, Do you want it?
Yeah, yeah, I do.
Well, give me your life.
Loose your life.
And and the trade-off is a goodone for us, but we have to come
to that place where we say, Youbought me, it's not my life
anymore.
Uh, you you've saved me, it'snot my will anymore.
(24:28):
Here it is.
And so I thought today would bea really good time.
We kind of hit and miss, do uhdo communion whenever we can.
But I thought today would be theperfect day to spend some time
remembering what God has donefor us.
Uh so I'll pray, and uh someonewill uh pass out the bread and
(24:52):
the cup, and uh we'll take themtogether as we remember what
God's done for us.
So God, I just admit I've beenthrough this passage so many
times in my life that I can losethe wonder of how amazing it is
that it would be on that veryspot that Jesus would willingly
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lay down his life for us and notjust die, but become a sacrifice
for us, a sacrifice that wouldactually produce something.
And God, you've been so good tous in our life, you've been so
loving and kind.
I just pray that in all the bigthings and the little things, we
would be able to just loosen ourgrip on all those things in our
(25:39):
life.
We would just offer them to youbecause God, it just makes
sense.
God, you've purchased us.
You deserve everything of ourlife.
I pray that as we just take sometime to remember your cross
today, that you would help thatto be real in our lives, even
now.
In Jesus' name we pray.
So, um, there it is.
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We have our hands, bread and thecup.
So let's look at the breadfirst.
Um, Jesus, if you'll remember onthe night before the cross, um,
it was Passover, a littledifferent scenario than our
little cracker and cup here, buthe took bread.
(26:24):
It was part of the meal, and hehe looked at it and said to his
disciples, This bread is mybody, broken for you.
And they had no idea, obviously,what he was talking about
because it hadn't happened yet,but within a few hours his body
would be broken, and they wouldsee him beaten up, whipped, uh,
(26:47):
crown of thorns put on his head,mocked, and maybe they flashed
back to that, my body broken foryou, and and the wonderful thing
is that it was done for us, hetook it all for us um so that we
could be made whole.
(27:08):
He was broken, and um you know,one of the things that I flash
back to a lot in comedian, Iwon't take too long here, but
uh, is there in Corinthians,first Corinthians, where Paul
says, Don't anyone take this inan unworthy manner?
Because uh, you know, folks havetaken it in an unworthy manner,
and some are actually sleeping,they're dead.
(27:29):
I remember being again, and Iwould think, oh man, I don't
want to take this in an unworthymanner because I'm like, die,
right?
Now, the whole story there wasthat people were just kind of
taking it like snacks, you know,they were just taking it like it
was part of a love feast thatthey had, and they would take
communion to build up theirfriendship with one another, to
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build up the race andrelationship with God.
And some people were gettingdrunk, and some people were just
taking it like it was no bigdeal.
And so the unworthy manner isnot just that we're not perfect.
I think that's just important tosay because I I looked at my
life when I was a kid and Isaid, Well, I'm not perfect, you
don't know what I did, you know,you know what I thought.
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And but none of us are perfect.
That's the whole reason why hisbody was broken, was to make us
whole.
And um, and so don't let thatstop you.
If perhaps in the back of yourhead you think, well, I'm not
perfect.
This is what we need becausewe're not perfect.
We we need what God's done forus, that he laid down his life
(28:32):
to forgive us and make us whole.
And so, as we just thank God forthis bread that represents his
body broken for us, let's pray.
God, thank you.
Thank you, Jesus, for for layingdown your life for us, willing,
more willing than Isaac didthere in that account.
(28:54):
God, you could have gone back toheaven anytime, and yet you
didn't, because you loved us,and you let them torture you and
beat you because you loved us,and there in Hebrews chapter 12
it says it was for the joy thatwas set before you.
(29:14):
It's so hard to imagine thatthere was joy laying down your
life, but you knew what it wouldbring.
God, thank you for offering usthis forgiveness, not because of
anything we've done or that weget it, but God, because
everything that you've done,you've provided the sacrifice
for us.
So, God, as we take this bread,remind us of those things, even
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in our lives.
In Jesus' name we pray.
Amen.
Take the bread.
And also that same night, Jesustook a cup and held it up, and
he told his disciples, This cupis my blood shed for you.
(29:58):
And I'm sure they had no idea.
idea what that meant.
But a few hours later he wouldbleed.
He would be pierced by nails.
He would bleed.
And and with that blood, hewould wash away our sins.
He said it's the blood of thenew covenant, a promise, not
because of what we do, becausewe didn't do anything at the
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cross, but because of what hedid, that we can be totally and
completely forgiven, justified.
God makes it just as if we neversinned because of what Jesus
did.
And he looks at us and not onlyare we forgiven and washed, but
we're perfect and righteous.
2 Corinthians 521 says and so asmaybe they remembered a little
(30:47):
later they definitelyremembered.
They would see this cup and theywould say this is a picture of
his blood.
Man and I think about it often Ineeded that.
I feel like I you know Iprobably won't even get out this
door without experiencing sin inmy life.
You know that's just how good Iam at it.
And every single day I just needGod to make me clean because I
(31:10):
feel messed up.
But then he cleans us he washesit away and takes it far away
from us and as if we had neverdone it at all.
So let's thank God for this cupand his blood.
God thank you for shedding bloodfor us, becoming the sacrifice
for us.
God we feel so dirty with thethings in our life and our past
(31:34):
and yet you wash it away.
God thank you that you've madeus clean and thank you that at
the end of the day you'll makeus clean then too.
God we're righteous in yoursight because of Jesus.
And God we thank you for that.
Work that into our heart that wewould absolutely know it as we
go on to this life that we'recovered by your blood.
(31:58):
Thank you.
Pray all these things in Jesus'name amen.
Hebrews chapter 11.
Yeah.
Verse 17 through 19 is wherewe're at today.
If you want to find Genesis 22,we'll be over there too.
So that's up to you how you wantto do that.
Heads up.
All right.
Hebrews chapter 11, verse 17,where we're at.
(00:36):
We are moving uh as slow as wewant to move through uh the hall
of faith, Hebrews chapter 11.
Um, it's uh an example of justnormal, average, faulty, I think
would be a good word to throw inthere.
Faulty people who trusted God.
Um, and the thing that weprobably find over and over
again, that maybe I don't alwaysmention it, but we find over and
(00:58):
over again that it teaches usthat one, the life of faith can
be done, right?
This can be done.
You can live a life by faith.
And two, it's totally worth it.
As we look at each one of theseuh people listed here, uh, it
can be done, and it's totallyworth it.
So we have been going throughchapter 11, and lately, as of
(01:20):
lately, last couple times, we'vebeen looking at the life of
Abraham.
He is in the book of Romansknown as the father of the
faithful, father of those whobelieve.
So we find he's a literal fatherby this point, but he's also a
spiritual father, even to us,father in the faith.
Um, now verse 17 is really thehigh point of Abraham's faith.
(01:47):
Let's read it, verse 17 through19.
By faith, Abraham, when he wastested, offered up Isaac, and he
who had received the promisesoffered up his only begotten
son, of whom it was said, InIsaac your seed shall be called,
(02:10):
concluding that God was able toraise him up even from the dead,
from which he also received himin a figurative sense.
So here we are, Abraham, it'sthat high point in his faith.
It's a time of testing.
We don't like tests, no matterwhere we're at, whether it's
(02:30):
school or anywhere else in life.
We don't like trials, we don'tlike tests.
But here we read Abraham inverse 17 when he was tested.
Uh, we test things, we put themthrough testing to determine
sometimes what they're made of,right?
Uh we test metals, that's theway that word is used often, to
test metals to see what theirmakeup is, uh, whether they're
(02:54):
pure gold or they havecontaminants or what, you test
them by putting them underpressure and under heat.
Um, that's one way we look attesting.
But those of you that are stillin school, you know they test
you through tests, right?
No fun to see it what if they ifyou're learning, if you're not
learning, if you're getting itor you're not getting it.
(03:15):
Um tests and trials see whatwe're made of.
And Abraham had trials andtesting throughout his life, but
this one test that we werereading about today is really
the top.
Uh, Abraham, when he was tested.
I think it's important before wemove on to realize that tests
(03:37):
are when's, not ifs.
Abraham, when he was tested,because we are all tested.
There's no question that lifeincludes trials and testing.
Our buddy James in James 1,verse 2, says this, my brethren,
(03:57):
count it all joy when you fallinto various trials, knowing
that the testing of your faithproduces patience.
So James puts it out there clearagain for us.
It's when you fall into varioustrials and when you are tested.
Now, James is going to try totell us, of course, that it's
(04:18):
all worth it.
It's all a good part of lifethat God's working something
good, but it's not fun, right?
When we look at these testingsin our life, they're not fun or
enjoyable.
Now, if you peek over to Hebrewschapter 12, um Hebrews chapter
12, we also see that God notonly tests us, but he
(04:43):
disciplines us.
Um notice uh there in verse 5.
Have you forgotten theexhortation that speaks to you
as sons?
My son, do not despise thechastening or the discipline of
the Lord.
Um, notice there in verse 6,whom the Lord loves, he
chastens, or another word thereis discipline.
(05:04):
So I just figured I'd throw thatin.
That not only is life includetestings, but also discipline.
Uh, the author to the Hebrewshere says, uh, discipline is
good.
Now we think of discipline, andmaybe we flash back to our
childhood when we weredisciplined, and that maybe
wasn't fun for us.
Um, but that word is a little,it's a little more enlightening,
(05:27):
I think, than just that kind ofdiscipline.
It's training.
It's when a coach takes a personthrough some training to make
them better.
So we see these trials, thesetestings, this discipline, this
training to make us better.
We know that, but Abraham hereis going to go through some
(05:50):
training, some discipline, sometesting.
Um, now notice Abraham's testingin verse 17.
When he was tested, uh, heoffered up Isaac.
So we flash back here uh toAbraham's testing when he
(06:13):
offered up Isaac.
Before we move on, notice thatword offered uh there an
offering.
This is also the process ofoffering Isaac.
That word there means to bringand to lay down, is the idea
behind that word offering.
Another place we see this wordoffering, and picture this,
(06:35):
follow this.
Another place we see this wordoffering is in Matthew chapter
2, it's the wise men, as we callthem, the magi from the east,
who came to see the baby Jesus.
He was uh a young child at thatpoint, but they came with gifts.
Remember the gifts?
Gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
(06:57):
And they took and they put thosegifts in front of Jesus, and
they offered these gifts to him.
I think that's important to seeas we look at this thing that
God's doing through testing, andin Abraham's life, offering
Isaac, it's it's an offering.
Picture this, look, it's layingsomething down, it's bringing
(07:18):
something to God and laying itdown.
Uh, it's this idea, this painfulidea of loosing your grip on
something.
I think that's why this idea ofoffering is so vivid for us,
because we can picture it as webring something to God and we
open up our hands, right?
Now, this is not hard for me todo, but it's very hard to let go
(07:41):
of things in our life.
And it depends on how much wevalue those things, right?
Uh, you know, I can build up abunch of trash in my back seat.
That's just kind of how I live.
I'm just being honest.
Whenever we stop at a gasstation, though, with my wife,
the idea is to grab whatevertrash you can and throw it away
now so we don't have to put upwith it, right?
(08:03):
And you know, I've never had ahard time throwing trash away,
right?
I go and I pick it up and I putit over the trash can and I open
my grip and I let it go.
I don't hoard trash, I hoard alot of other things, but I don't
hoard trash because I don'tvalue it.
But check it out.
Then there's things in our lifethat we do value.
(08:24):
Everything else.
I value a lot of things, littlethings.
But but but notice the bigthings in our life that we
value.
Uh, I can still picture 25 yearsago when our foster kids who had
lived with us for a year wentback to live with their mother.
And the little boy, we got himwhen he was one, and and he had
(08:48):
this thick, curly brown hair.
And there's something aboutthick, curly brown hair on a
one-year-old that you just wantto go, yes, you know, I would
say goodnight to him and it wasmess up that hair, you know.
And I remember when I saidgoodbye to those two foster kids
that we loved, and one last timemessed his hair up, and I turned
(09:11):
around and I walked away 25years ago.
And I remember that feeling ofletting go of something that I
loved so much, and and thatreally is the picture here as
Abraham offers Isaac.
This is the story of life.
Now, God is not a taker, I wouldsay he's a giver, but many times
(09:35):
in life he has us offer things,he has us loose our grip over
something that means a lot tous.
Um, something we want, a dream,our accomplishments, our pride,
laying down our pride andlooking to forgive someone.
(09:55):
Um, it's that opening the gripthat's just so traumatic in the
offering.
And here we get to watch Abrahamgo through it as he offers
Isaac.
Now let's turn to Genesis 22.
You can hold your place inHebrews, but turn to Genesis 22,
(10:17):
and I think it's verse one.
Now, Abraham's account goes tochapter 25.
So we've been through a lot.
Abraham, you know, and Sarah,his wife, were promised uh a
nation, a family, offspring.
(10:38):
Uh, and and it took decadesbefore they experienced that in
their life, before Isaac wasborn.
But now at this point, chapter22, uh, Isaac has arrived.
And he's a grown man, likely, atthis point.
And Genesis 22, verse 1.
(11:00):
It came to pass after thesethings that God tested Abraham
and said to him, Abraham.
And Abraham said, Here I am.
God said, Take now your son,your only son, Isaac, whom you
love, and go to the land ofMoriah and offer him there as a
(11:21):
burnt offering on one of themountains, which I shall tell
the shall tell you.
So here's where the testing allhappens, right?
In Genesis 22, 1.
At one moment, God comes toAbraham and he tests him.
Um, and he says, here's thetest, take now your son, your
(11:47):
only son, whom you love.
God throws that in and offershim as a sacrifice.
Now, you have to remember thewhole story, right?
Isaac is not Abraham's only son.
You remember there was a littlebit of a detour in chapter 16
where Sarah said, This isn'thappening, Abe.
(12:10):
Uh, you take my handmaiden Hagarand have a son with her, and
we'll just call it good.
And so Abraham has another sonuh named Ishmael, right?
But God doesn't recognize him.
Now God will protect Ishmael andhe will raise him up.
He becomes really the Arabnations that we know even today,
(12:32):
our descended from Ishmael.
Um, so God takes care of him,but he only recognizes the son
of promise.
And he says, Abraham, take yourson, your only son, whom you
love.
Now that's a tall order, right?
Uh any of us could see that.
That's a tall order.
But notice verse three.
(12:54):
So Abraham rose early in themorning and saddled his donkey
and took two of his young menwith him, and Isaac, his son.
He split wood for the burntoffering and rose and went to
the place which God had toldhim.
Then on the third day, you couldalways underline that, that's
interesting.
Third day, Abraham lifted up hiseyes and saw the place afar off.
(13:16):
Abraham said to his young men,You stay here with the donkey,
the lad and I will go yonder andworship, and we will come back
to you.
So here Abraham moves right outto do it.
He doesn't waste time early inthe morning.
Uh, he does.
Um, and Abraham goes to followthrough with what God had told
(13:42):
him to.
Um now, Abraham is growing inlogic here, I think, and faith.
We see Abraham's logic, and wealso see his faith because
Abraham knew that God was goingto use Isaac to bless the world.
(14:04):
He was a son of promise.
He was going to build a nationthrough him.
Uh, he really believed it.
Uh, but he's also in faith.
He's growing in faith as Godtests him.
Flip back real quick, hold yourplace here, but flip back real
quick to uh Hebrews verse uh uhchapter 11, verse 18.
(14:29):
Uh talking about Isaac, of whomit is said, in Isaac, your she
seed will be called.
God promised, right?
Uh, concluding that God was ableto raise him up even from the
dead.
So we know what's going on inAbraham's mind at this point
back in Genesis 22.
He's thinking, I'm gonna followthrough what God has told me to
(14:51):
do, offer my son as an offering,a burnt sacrifice on this
mountain.
But I know that he's promisedthat Isaac will become a nation.
Now, Abraham's doing all this inhis head, I think.
He's saying, I know the promise,and I know the God who made this
(15:11):
promise.
God will not let me down.
God will be faithful to do whathe said he's going to do.
And so Abraham concludes thatGod would raise him from the
dead if that's what it takes.
If he sacrificed Isaac, Godwould, at the worst case
(15:33):
scenario, God's going to raisethis kid from the dead because
he made a promise.
So there's some logic in this ofwho God is.
He will not break his promise.
I trust that.
There's this faith that's inGod's heart.
And so God is teaching himalready this thing uh to trust
him more.
(15:53):
It's logical to trust God, thatGod will do what he says he's
gonna do.
Um, and that's what God wants toprovide in testing, just kind of
on the surface.
God wants to produce that in ourlife that we really do trust God
with our heart.
Um, and of course, that's whatwe do daily, right?
(16:16):
God is always encouraging us togo a little deeper, to trust Him
a little more.
And it's varied in all of ourlives.
Uh, do you trust me with yourfuture?
God, I trust you with my future.
Well, loose a grip and let metake it.
Uh, do you trust me with yourfinances?
I trust you with my finances.
(16:37):
Well, loose your grip and let metake care of it.
Do you trust me with your kids?
Now, see, this is where I'm atin life, right?
And I have great kids, but youknow I've learned that you know,
you have a hard time trustingGod sometimes when they're
little.
You know, when they're little,God, you're gonna have to take
care of these kids.
They're just they're toddlersand they're all over the place,
(17:00):
or whatever it is, you know,sicknesses in the world, you
know, you got to trust God withyour kids.
But then they get older.
And, you know, we always did, aswe've talked about, we looked at
18 as like the finish line.
There it is, 18.
I won't have to worry about himanymore.
And yet, you have to trust Godeven more at that point.
(17:21):
You guys know the story.
But the real punchline here isdo we trust God with the things
in our life?
Do we trust God with all thethings in in our life?
And that's what God really wantsto bring about in our life.
(17:41):
Um God wants us to offer, nowpicture it, offer these things
and these people to Him, theloosing of the grip.
Because here's the thing (17:55):
if we don't, if we don't open our grip
on these things in our life,it's idolatry.
There's really nothing else youcan say about it.
There's something in my heartthat I refuse to open up my grip
to God over, it's an idol, andthat's not okay.
(18:15):
And so God says, Abraham, do youtrust me?
Your son, whom you love, Godpoints out, do you trust me?
And by God's grace, I think,Abraham does.
He reasons it out, but he alsotrusts God just simply.
God, you made a promise, I knowyou're not gonna break it.
(18:38):
Yes, I trust you.
Now, there's a final picturehere in chapter 22, and it is
way worth looking at, especiallyas we're gonna spend a little
bit of time here at the end incommunion today.
Um, I think it's verse 6.
So, picture this.
So Abraham took the wood of theburnt offering, and he laid it
(19:02):
on Isaac, his son, and he tookthe fire in his hand and a
knife, and the two of them wenttogether.
But Isaac spoke to Abraham hisfather and said, My father,
Abraham said, Here I am, my son.
Uh, then he said, Look, the fireand the wood, but where is the
(19:22):
lamb for the burnt offering?
Picture what's going on inIsaac's mind here, perhaps.
We have a, you know, I don'tthink he's totally naive to
this, right?
We have uh fire and wood, andyou're gonna have an offering,
but I don't see any sacrifice.
How what are we gonna sacrifice?
And as things went on in thisstory, maybe you know, Isaac
(19:45):
brightened up even more overwhat was going on.
Um, but but realize this, it'sgonna be a willing sacrifice for
Isaac.
There's a lot ofmisunderstanding, I think, in
our Sunday school world thatIsaac is, you know, like a
10-year-old, a seven-year-old.
It really doesn't matter becauseAbraham's like over a hundred at
(20:06):
this point, right?
So even if he is, Isaac's gotthe upper hand.
But it's probably more likelythat Isaac is really an adult by
this point.
So as this goes on, Isaac's awilling sacrifice here.
Now, notice again what happens.
(20:27):
Then he came to the place whichGod had told him.
And Abraham, verse 9, uh, builtan altar there and placed the
wood in order, and he boundIsaac, his son, and laid him on
the altar upon the wood.
And Abraham stretched out hishand, took the knife to slay his
(20:48):
son.
But the angel of the Lord calledto him from heaven and said,
Abraham, Abraham.
So he said, Here I am.
And he said, Do not lay yourhand on the lad or do anything
to him, for now I know that youfear God, since you have not
withheld your son, your onlyson, from me.
(21:09):
So this goes down, and Isaactrusts his father, lets him tie
him up.
And then I think when God stopshim, there's a little bit of uh,
whoo, okay, all right, glad thatthat's done, you know.
Uh quite a bit of relief.
(21:30):
But but notice Abraham's gonnamake this kind of monumental
here in verse 13.
Then Abraham um lifted up hiseyes and looked.
There behind him was a ramcaught in a thicket by its
horns.
So Abraham went and took the ramand offered up for a burnt
offering instead of his son.
(21:50):
And Abraham called the name ofthe place the Lord will provide,
as it is said to this day, inthe mount of the Lord it shall
be provided.
So the testing being over, Goddoes provide an alternate
sacrifice, and we're all veryhappy about that.
(22:11):
An alternate sacrifice.
But here's the thing that mostof you may know, but is so
surprising is where this placeis.
Where is this Mount Moriah?
It's in Jerusalem.
If you've seen the Dome of theRock, uh the theory, part of the
theory of what they believe thatrock is, is this rock that
(22:34):
Abraham was gonna sacrifice hisson.
Now, in their book, it'sIshmael, not Isaac, but but but
this is that place.
So you can picture the city ofJerusalem.
It's on that mountain that thetemple would stand, that Abraham
went to offer his son Isaac.
It's on the same mountain thatJesus would give his life a
(22:59):
sacrifice for us.
And isn't it amazing what Godthrough Abraham says about this
place?
In the mount of the Lord, itwill be provided.
He was in the same spot whereyears later he could have looked
over and seen Jesus dying on thecross in that very spot.
And it's huge, right?
(23:19):
How God, the Father, offers hisonly begotten son.
He loves the world so much.
God so loved the world that hegave his only begotten son that
whosoever believes in him wouldnot perish, but have everlasting
life.
And I think that's where we cometo the deeper point of offering
our lives, is have we offeredour lives in that sense?
(23:43):
Daily we all learn to offersomething else.
We lose the grip of somethingelse that's important to us,
sanctification, getting to trustGod more and more.
But ultimately, we got to cometo that same place of sacrifice
and come back.
We got to come to that sameplace of sacrifice where we see
Jesus dying in our place, aransom for us.
(24:05):
And God says, Do you want it?
Yeah, yeah, I do.
Well, give me your life.
Loose your life.
And and the trade-off is a goodone for us, but we have to come
to that place where we say, Youbought me, it's not my life
anymore.
Uh, you you've saved me, it'snot my will anymore.
(24:28):
Here it is.
And so I thought today would bea really good time.
We kind of hit and miss, do uhdo communion whenever we can.
But I thought today would be theperfect day to spend some time
remembering what God has donefor us.
Uh so I'll pray, and uh someonewill uh pass out the bread and
(24:52):
the cup, and uh we'll take themtogether as we remember what
God's done for us.
So God, I just admit I've beenthrough this passage so many
times in my life that I can losethe wonder of how amazing it is
that it would be on that veryspot that Jesus would willingly
(25:15):
lay down his life for us and notjust die, but become a sacrifice
for us, a sacrifice that wouldactually produce something.
And God, you've been so good tous in our life, you've been so
loving and kind.
I just pray that in all the bigthings and the little things, we
would be able to just loosen ourgrip on all those things in our
(25:39):
life.
We would just offer them to youbecause God, it just makes
sense.
God, you've purchased us.
You deserve everything of ourlife.
I pray that as we just take sometime to remember your cross
today, that you would help thatto be real in our lives, even
now.
In Jesus' name we pray.
So, um, there it is.
(26:01):
We have our hands, bread and thecup.
So let's look at the breadfirst.
Um, Jesus, if you'll remember onthe night before the cross, um,
it was Passover, a littledifferent scenario than our
little cracker and cup here, buthe took bread.
(26:24):
It was part of the meal, and hehe looked at it and said to his
disciples, This bread is mybody, broken for you.
And they had no idea, obviously,what he was talking about
because it hadn't happened yet,but within a few hours his body
would be broken, and they wouldsee him beaten up, whipped, uh,
(26:47):
crown of thorns put on his head,mocked, and maybe they flashed
back to that, my body broken foryou, and and the wonderful thing
is that it was done for us, hetook it all for us um so that we
could be made whole.
(27:08):
He was broken, and um you know,one of the things that I flash
back to a lot in comedian, Iwon't take too long here, but
uh, is there in Corinthians,first Corinthians, where Paul
says, Don't anyone take this inan unworthy manner?
Because uh, you know, folks havetaken it in an unworthy manner,
and some are actually sleeping,they're dead.
(27:29):
I remember being again, and Iwould think, oh man, I don't
want to take this in an unworthymanner because I'm like, die,
right?
Now, the whole story there wasthat people were just kind of
taking it like snacks, you know,they were just taking it like it
was part of a love feast thatthey had, and they would take
communion to build up theirfriendship with one another, to
(27:51):
build up the race andrelationship with God.
And some people were gettingdrunk, and some people were just
taking it like it was no bigdeal.
And so the unworthy manner isnot just that we're not perfect.
I think that's just important tosay because I I looked at my
life when I was a kid and Isaid, Well, I'm not perfect, you
don't know what I did, you know,you know what I thought.
(28:11):
And but none of us are perfect.
That's the whole reason why hisbody was broken, was to make us
whole.
And um, and so don't let thatstop you.
If perhaps in the back of yourhead you think, well, I'm not
perfect.
This is what we need becausewe're not perfect.
We we need what God's done forus, that he laid down his life
(28:32):
to forgive us and make us whole.
And so, as we just thank God forthis bread that represents his
body broken for us, let's pray.
God, thank you.
Thank you, Jesus, for for layingdown your life for us, willing,
more willing than Isaac didthere in that account.
(28:54):
God, you could have gone back toheaven anytime, and yet you
didn't, because you loved us,and you let them torture you and
beat you because you loved us,and there in Hebrews chapter 12
it says it was for the joy thatwas set before you.
(29:14):
It's so hard to imagine thatthere was joy laying down your
life, but you knew what it wouldbring.
God, thank you for offering usthis forgiveness, not because of
anything we've done or that weget it, but God, because
everything that you've done,you've provided the sacrifice
for us.
So, God, as we take this bread,remind us of those things, even
(29:35):
in our lives.
In Jesus' name we pray.
Amen.
Take the bread.
And also that same night, Jesustook a cup and held it up, and
he told his disciples, This cupis my blood shed for you.
(29:58):
And I'm sure they had no idea.
idea what that meant.
But a few hours later he wouldbleed.
He would be pierced by nails.
He would bleed.
And and with that blood, hewould wash away our sins.
He said it's the blood of thenew covenant, a promise, not
because of what we do, becausewe didn't do anything at the
(30:20):
cross, but because of what hedid, that we can be totally and
completely forgiven, justified.
God makes it just as if we neversinned because of what Jesus
did.
And he looks at us and not onlyare we forgiven and washed, but
we're perfect and righteous.
2 Corinthians 521 says and so asmaybe they remembered a little
(30:47):
later they definitelyremembered.
They would see this cup and theywould say this is a picture of
his blood.
Man and I think about it often Ineeded that.
I feel like I you know Iprobably won't even get out this
door without experiencing sin inmy life.
You know that's just how good Iam at it.
And every single day I just needGod to make me clean because I
(31:10):
feel messed up.
But then he cleans us he washesit away and takes it far away
from us and as if we had neverdone it at all.
So let's thank God for this cupand his blood.
God thank you for shedding bloodfor us, becoming the sacrifice
for us.
God we feel so dirty with thethings in our life and our past
(31:34):
and yet you wash it away.
God thank you that you've madeus clean and thank you that at
the end of the day you'll makeus clean then too.
God we're righteous in yoursight because of Jesus.
And God we thank you for that.
Work that into our heart that wewould absolutely know it as we
go on to this life that we'recovered by your blood.
(31:58):
Thank you.
Pray all these things in Jesus'name amen.
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CrimeLess: Hillbilly Heist
It’s 1996 in rural North Carolina, and an oddball crew makes history when they pull off America’s third largest cash heist. But it’s all downhill from there. Join host Johnny Knoxville as he unspools a wild and woolly tale about a group of regular ‘ol folks who risked it all for a chance at a better life. CrimeLess: Hillbilly Heist answers the question: what would you do with 17.3 million dollars? The answer includes diamond rings, mansions, velvet Elvis paintings, plus a run for the border, murder-for-hire-plots, and FBI busts.