Hebrews chapter 11, and this
morning we will be looking at Abraham and his trial concerning
Isaac. It's a Abraham verse. Let's begin our reading there
in verse. Let's start in verse. Thirteen,
and we'll read our way down. It says, These all died in faith,
not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off,
and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed
that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. For they
that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country.
And truly, if they had been mindful of that country from whence they
came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned.
But now they desire a better country that isn't heavenly.
Wherefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he
hath prepared for them a city. And verse 17 is my text this
morning. By faith, Abraham, when he was
tried, offered up Isaac. And he that had received the
promises offered up his only begotten son, of whom it was
said that in Isaac shall thy seed be called, accounting that
God was able to raise him up, even from the dead, from whence
he received him in a figure." The title of the message this
morning is The Necessity of Trials. The necessity of trials. It says, by faith, Abraham, when
he was tried. Every believer in the Lord Jesus
Christ is from conversion even unto our death. We have our faith
to be tried. From the time we are born again
of the Spirit of the God until the time our spirit reaches the
heavens where God had purposed, we will be tried. This faith that God has given
us, it will be tested. It will be tested. Now, the trial
of our faith, God tries or tests our faith, not for His own knowledge. God doesn't do this for His own
sake, or for His own knowledge, or for His benefit. He does this
for you. He does this for your benefit.
We know that God knows who has faith and who doesn't because
Jesus Christ is the author and finisher of the faith of every
elect, of every elect child. So God's not asking or trying
for information. We do that. We try for information. If we're testing somebody, we're
testing their faithfulness to us or their love for us. We're
doing it because we don't know. But God doesn't do it because
He doesn't know. He does it because we don't know.
Because we don't know. Go over to John chapter 6. I'll
show you this in a couple of places very clearly. That the
Lord has no problem understanding who has faith and who doesn't. So this is not the reason. Look
at verse 60 in John chapter 6. It says, Many therefore of his
disciples, when they heard this, said, This is a hard saying,
who can hear it? And when Jesus knew in himself
that the disciples murmured at it, he said unto them, Did this
offend you? What and if you shall see the Son of Man ascend up
where he was before? It is the spirit that quickeneth,
the flesh profiteth nothing. The words that I speak unto you,
they are spirit and they are life. But there are some of you
that believe not, for Jesus knew from the beginning who they were
that believed not and who should betray him." You see, there was
no question here. He knew this. And look over at
John 10, just a couple of pages over to John chapter 10. This again is very clearly explained
to these Jews. who were not believers. Look
at verse 25. Jesus said, I told you and you
believe not. The works that I do in my Father's
name, they bear witness of me, but you believe not because you
are not of my sheep. I said unto you, my sheep hear
my voice and I know them and they follow me and I give them
eternal life. And they shall never perish,
neither shall any man pluck them out of my hands." Now, is there
anything hid from Christ as far as who is a believer and who
is not? Nothing. He knows our faith. He has to give us faith, so he
knows our faith. So the trial of our faith is
intended by our gracious Father for our assurance, for our growth
and discipline, as well as for others to see. It's a benefit. God uses trials as a benefit. I like this that Don says about
this, he says, our Lord and Savior, we read of our Lord and Savior,
it says that though he were a son, yet he learned obedience by the
things he suffered. And if that's true of our Redeemer,
when he walked on the earth as a man, it's true of us. If we
are children of God, as long as we live in this flesh, this
body, we will be required to learn obedience. And we learn
obedience by the things which we suffer at the hand of God's
wise and good providence. Our life is a life of trials. It is a life of trials. Our faith
is to be tested. Our faith is to be proven. Our
faith is to be strengthened. Character is to be built. He builds character and develops
discipline by the trials of our faith. And God will do this to his saints.
And to make another note of this, it seems as though in Scripture,
that all of the trials of our life seem to come for a reason
to prepare us for as though one great trial. If you'll notice
in Scripture, Abraham had many trials. His faith was tested
from the beginning. He said, leave your country,
leave your kingdom and go on out there in the desert. And
he left. He said, you know, I'm going to give you a son. I'm
going to make you a father of many nations. And yet his body
was so old and Sarah's womb was dead. And he believed God. He
trusted God and God gave him a son. But then the greatest
trial of his faith is the one here mentioned here. Offer up
thy son, thine only son, whom thou lovest as an offering to
me. Kill your son. You see, all of
his trials before were preparing him for this great one. And that may be the case, that
our trials are preparing us for one great trial. One great test
of our faith. But it still never ends. Even
after this, Abraham was tried all the way to his death. But
this was the height of his trials. This was the hardest. All trials
are not the same, but they have the same purpose. My trials are
not the same as your trials. We're different. We see things
differently. We approach things differently.
Some people can allow things to roll off their back. I used
to be one of those people. I mean, something would come
and it would just roll off me. I really wouldn't care. I just paid little
attention to it. But that's not the way it is
now. It seems like every little drop of rain is a burden, is
a trial. So with all our trials being
different, but we all have the same purpose to grow in the grace
and knowledge of Christ. And I have seen you grow. Now,
this has been a blessing for me. I know you've been tried. I know you've been tested. And
you can't see it, but I know I do. I know I do. I see growth. I don't
see growth in me, but I see growth in you. Let us, by faith, then when we
are tried and tested, learn to be obedient by the things we
suffer. Learn obedience to God by the
things we suffer. We can learn this, how can we
learn this and what can we learn from through suffering? The same
that Abraham learned and experienced that trials prove God is faithful
to his promises. That's what trials do. Because
I'll tell you what, it is a shame. It is a sin. My faith should
be counted as unbelief at times. It's amazing to me that I would
ever doubt the faithfulness of God. But I do. When I am so deep in a trial
and in pain, I was talking to someone about being sick. It's
hard to be spiritual when you're sick, isn't it? When you're going
through a trial or difficulty, it's very difficult to be spiritual. But we must, even in this time,
know God's faithfulness. We must remember and learn from
our sickness or our suffering that God is faithful to His promises. To trust Him no matter what befalls
us. That He's faithful to keep His
promises. He chose us from the beginning.
Christ suffered for our sins in His own body. The Holy Spirit
came to us in grace. We weren't seeking God. We weren't
asking for grace. We weren't asking for mercy.
And yet by grace, God came and God sought us. God found us. God redeemed us. by His Holy
Spirit regenerated us. How then shall He not keep us
through these trials? If He's done all these things
for us from eternity until now, shall He not keep us from now
until eternity? He's promised to do that. Why
would we not believe or trust His grace? He pardoned us from all our sin. All our sin. That means all our
sin. Every one of our sins have been
taken and nailed to the cross. And I bear them no more. No more. Now, my conscience condemns me. But God doesn't. God doesn't. There is therefore now no condemnation
to them who are in Christ Jesus. Now, that is a promise. That
is a promise. And he's faithful to keep that.
Will he ever fail or forsake his promises? No. Therefore,
let us by faith Receive the promises of God as they are in Christ
alone, so that we may have confidence in the trial, in the difficulty. Because he that hath begun a
good work in you shall perform it. Do you believe that? Well,
that's what God says. Has a work begun in you? Has
the Holy Spirit regenerated you? Do you believe on the Savior?
Then he that hath begun a good work in you shall perform it.
Well, who is he? Is it you? Have you begun a good
work in you? Well, then, you can count on
this. It won't be performed. Because we've done no good. He
that hath begun a good work is God. He saved us and He'll keep us
until the day of Jesus Christ. And then, let's see the necessity
of this. Abraham was tried. When he was tried, he offered
up Isaac. Now, friends, let me tell you
this. When God said, offer your son, now Abraham had two sons. He had Ishmael and Isaac. And
when God said in Genesis 22, offer up thy son, Now, if God
said that, then he might had cause to go get Ishmael because that was that was not
the son of promise. But just to make sure he said
not thine only son. Whom thou lovest. Take him. and journey three days
with him to this mountain, and you take him up that mountain
and you offer him. You kill him for me." And the scripture says he staggered
not at the promises of God. Look over and see what he did.
When he was tried, when Abraham was tried, what was his response? His response was obedience. And
this should be our response in our trials. It should be a response
of obedience. Genesis 22. Look at this. After God said,
take him up and offer him, look at verse 3. And Abraham rose
up late in the afternoon, dragging his feet. No, he rose up early
in the morning, saddled his ass and took two of his young men
with him. Isaac his son, and claimed the wood for the burnt
offering, and rose up and went unto the place which God had
told him." He took his son immediately. Why? How could he do that? He did it by faith, believing
God. He believed God's promise. Look at the promise in your text. It says, "...of whom it was said
that in Isaac shall thy seed be called." The Savior, the Redeemer
should come from Isaac. That's God's promise. He said
that to Abraham. He said, I'll send the Redeemer. I'll send the Holy One. Thy Savior
shall come through Isaac. Now take Isaac up there and offer
him as a sacrifice to Me." He got up early in the morning,
rose up, took his son, laid him on that wood, and was stretching
forth his hand to slay his son. When was his son dead? He was dead to Abraham the moment
God told him to offer his son. He was already dead. Matter of fact, that's how God
says it in our text. He says, Abraham, by faith, Abraham,
when he was tried, offered up Isaac. He had already purposed
to kill his son. He had already set it in motion
as soon as God said to do it. He by faith believed God's word
that he was able to raise him from the dead. Because he had
a promise. He had a promise. Think of all of the promises
of God for you. Now, Abraham had this one promise. He had like three or four so
far we've been given in Scripture concerning his physical seed,
the land, and concerning Christ. He had been given those promises
of God. But yet we have the full revelation
of God's promises. We have the complete revelation
of God's promises. Infinite amount of promises, and yet we stagger. Our trials of our faith, they
may not reach the level of offering our sons. They may not even reach
the level of being martyrs to offer our life. But what about
daily trials of our faith? What about the minute by minute
trials of our faith? Are we faithful to trust God
to supply the strength we need now? Why would we wait for some bigger
trial when we can't handle the lessers? Are we faithful to believe his
promises of peace, that when everything around us is anything
but peace? Do we believe his promise of
peace? Then we should be at peace. We should be at peace, even though
there is no peace around us. We should have perfect peace
if our mind is stayed on Christ. The Apostle Peter says this.
He says that we are the elect to the elect who has received
the sanctification of the Spirit, the sprinkling of the blood of
Christ, the grace unto you. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ according to His abundant mercy. hath begotten
us again to a living hope by the resurrection of Christ from
the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible, undefiled, that fadeth not away,
reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God
through faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed, wherein
you greatly rejoice." Do you rejoice in those things? Election,
sanctification, justification, redemption, heaven? Do you rejoice in those things?
I do. I rejoice in every one of those
things, though now for a season, if need be. You are in heaviness
through many manifold temptations, that the trial of your faith,
being much more precious than gold that perisheth, though tried
with fire, might be found unto the praise and honor and glory
at the appearing of Jesus Christ. You see, our trials are necessary. And even though we have many
of them, they're of great value to us. So when you are in a trial,
when I am in a trial, we should see this not as an evil, but
rather as a grace. The trial of our faith is much
more precious than gold that perishes. Why? Why is it much
more precious? Because it yields a greater thing
than gold. It yields an eternal weight of
glory and praise unto our God. It's wonderful when we believe. You can't put a price on our
trials, even though I know my flesh does. My flesh wants to
give him away for free. As soon as the trial comes and
says, here, you want this? You want this? But the inner
man says, no, this is of God. It is of God's hand. And we must
endure trials and suffering. We must endure how? Believing
God, trusting God. That he is faithful who promised.
He promised. He promised to give us comfort
and assurance, hope. He promised to give us eternal
life. Are these empty promises? Is
heaven real? I'll tell you what. I imagine
that if God were to open our eyes to see a glimpse of what
heaven was like, that there would be mass suicides among Christians
to get there. I don't doubt that. I don't doubt
it at all. I'm sure that's probably why
he does it. But we don't see it by sight. We see it by faith. We trust. We trust not that our faithfulness. We trust in God's faithfulness. The apostle says we not only
rejoice in justification, but we also glory in tribulations.
Why? Because tribulation work of patience. Have you need of patience? Are you patient enough? Do you want patience and do you
want it now? Then I think you have need of
patience. With tribulation, work with patience. That's the only
way it comes. And patience, experience. I've experienced some trials,
haven't you? I've experienced some troubles. And what is my experience? That
God delivered me out of them all. That's my experience. Every
one of them. Every one of them. God has delivered
me from all my trials and it Work at hope. Experience hope. Assurance. Are you confident
in God's promises? Because I'm not as confident
in God's promises as I want to be. I'm not as confident in God's
promises as I should be. But my hope maketh me not ashamed. In other words, I'm not ashamed
to confess Christ as my Lord and Savior. I'm not ashamed of
that. Why? Because He says He's not
ashamed to be called my God. Now, that's something. That's
something. He's not ashamed to be called
my God. Because He has delivered us from
our sins. And lastly, let us, when we are
tried, obey the Word of God, even though it's contrary to
human reasoning. Do you suppose Abraham could
have justified not killing his son? Do you suppose he could
have sat there and said, well, you know, the promise of God
was that Isaac was supposed to be the chosen one. So, I think
I maybe didn't understand that right. Maybe God was mistaken. Maybe he meant that I should
just offer him in my heart, OK, God, offering my heart, just
let me sit here now and I won't go. No. No. He could have justified it a
million ways. God must have been speaking metaphorically. No. Is this not the thought of the
fleshly nature to justify our disobedience because we can't
understand what God's doing? Do we not try to get ourselves
out of trials and difficulties by human logic and reasoning? Rather than just obeying God. And suffering the consequences
of obedience. Is that not why we lie? Because
we don't want to suffer the consequences of the truth? That's it. I've seen it a hundred times.
I've done it a hundred times in myself. But I've seen it in
my son especially. You see it in children when they
don't want to spank it. Man, they'll lie. And they'll lie
and they'll hold it. That's my story and I'm sticking
to it. That's it. Let me ask those of you who are
faithful to worship, to worship God, is it not a trial
to come here? Because I'll tell you what, I
can go anywhere else in the world and it not be really a big deal.
But coming here is a big deal. Every time. It's not easy. Those of you who are faithful
on Wednesday, Which one of you would tell me how easy it is
for you to come? I'll tell you what, it's just
as easy for me. It's hard. It's not easy. In other words,
being obedient to God will cost you something. And you can justify it all you
want to. But the truth is, we should be obedient to what God
says. Forsake not the assembling of
yourselves together as a matter of some ends. Is that not simple? Is that not plain? Is that a
metaphor? Well, I worship God in my heart,
in my home. That's not what he meant. And
you know it. Well, I've got CDs. That's not what he meant. And
you know it. You know it in your heart. And the only reason you won't
come and you won't obey God is because you've justified it.
You found something more important. You found something more important
than trusting God's promises. It's a trial to get here. The
Word of God is clear and we should be obedient to everything concerning
our love for one another, our worship of God, our prayers,
our sacrifices. And if you're not faithful in
these small things, how then could you be faithful in such
a thing as Abraham had to be faithful in? Do you suppose you
could do that? I know God's not asked us to. May we by faith, by grace, by
the grace of God, believe God and obey God. For all the promises
of God in Christ are yes and amen. Yes. Well, God, can I have this? Yes,
you can have that promise. Didn't I give it? Oh, can I have it? Does it say
it? It's yours. It's yours. And amen. Let it be so, that's God's promises. May God help us to be faithful
as Abraham in our trials, to offer up whatever it is God would
have us to give up, whatever it is. And not just in our hearts,
but I mean literally, whatever it is. It's altogether different,
isn't it? Isn't it easy to say, I surrender
all, is that the, I surrender all, I surrender all. And then God tells you, well,
come and worship. Well, you know, I've got so much
to do. I've got things and I'm tired.
I just, you know, it's just too much for me. Well, I surrender
all except that. You'll find out that there's
a lot more you have to surrender. I pray that God bless us. Help
us to be faithful. I need it, don't you? Don't you
need to learn? Because I need to learn through
suffering just like you. God help us to be faithful to
remember his promises. I pray God will bless us.