Bible Teaching

Calvary Temple Teaching Library

Promises, Promises Pt.6

Let's turn to Romans 4. We want to continue our study on the promises of God and allow the Lord to minister that grace and that hope to us that causes us to finish, and if we finish, we win, amen? What we want to do is take just a second and, in Romans 4 and in Hebrews 11, allow the Holy Spirit again to give us God's perspective of the life of Abraham. We've talked about the fact that God is perceiving Abraham and revealing him to us from Romans 4 and Hebrews 11 through the finished work.

Sometimes we get a little bit discouraged. How many of you get discouraged when you look at your own life and you think, man, I could be doing a lot better job than I'm doing right now? We get a little bit discouraged sometimes by the circumstances, and what we need to do is encourage ourselves with the fact that it's not over yet. God is still working in our lives, and God is still working in the circumstances, whatever they are, that you're facing right now. And so, let's realize that there's going to be an ultimate victory that God's promises are sure to a thousand generations. Every promise of God in Christ Jesus is yea and it's amen (so be it) to the glory of God by or through us. Let me go over it again. Every promise of God in Christ Jesus is yes and so be it. The whole issue is not that you and I would be a little more comfortable, we'd be healed, we'd be more financially prosperous, but for what reason? For the glory of God by us. Everything you go through, then, brings glory to God. You're going through it for the glory of God. You're being tried, tested, proven victorious, blessed for the glory of God. That puts it all in perspective, and then it helps us understand why we're involved in what we're involved in.

When we read Hebrews 11 and Romans 4 about Abraham and then we go back and read the Genesis account, the Genesis account shows us the daily process. There are times in the life of Abraham that we see him responding just like you and I respond. He's a man of like passions as we are, James speaks of concerning the trials and victors who have gone on before us, the great cloud of witnesses—whether it's talking about a great prophet like Elijah or the great patriarch Abraham, the father of our faith. They're people just like us. How many times do you read the Bible and see Abraham or Moses or Paul or somebody different from you? How many of you have the tendency to see them as some kind of super beings? Let me see your hands. How many of you have that tendency? They're people just like us. The people around us that are here in our fellowship that are examples that we can follow—I want to tell you something: they're just like you are—people with feet of clay, doubts, fears. But the one thing that makes these people many times stand out, become the champions, become those who are recorded in the Hebrews 11 faith hall of fame, the thing that causes them to stand out is that when it's all up against the wall, they'll choose God's way, period. You push them into a corner, it comes down to the end, and they'll submit to the will of God. They will pray the prayer: If it's possible, let the cup pass; but not my will, thy will be done. These aren't people who are going around saying that at all times, every decision they make is for the purpose and the glory of God, and that they never make any mistakes, and they never yield to temptation. The Bible doesn't record that about the lives of these men. Aren't you glad that in Abraham, that in Moses, that in David, we see their humanness? Now, we don't spend all of our time talking about the failures of these men, but we can learn from them. We can't emphasize their failures, because God doesn't. We have to perceive Abraham, Moses, David in light of God's recording of them in the new and the better covenant. So, that's the long way of saying He's not through with you yet, praise God! If we can begin to see ourselves in the final product, it'll encourage us, and it'll cause us to be able to make our boast in the Lord.

Romans chapter 4—let's read what God's summary of the life of Abraham is and how it's to be seen through our eyes. Don't think for a moment, when we go back and look at the daily process in Abraham, that we're saying that he's other than what God declares him to be. We're just showing that you can't judge yourself in the daily process, but in the finished work. And so, the Scripture speaks concerning our father Abraham, and it says, verse 16, "Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham; who is the father of us all, ...before him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were. Who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations, according to that which was spoken, So shall thy seed be."

So we see, then, that father Abraham was a man who against hope believed in hope. What's that saying to us? That's a phrase a lot of times that people misunderstand. Let's see it in the full scope of what the Holy Spirit is saying about this man Abraham and what God's purpose is for you and I. First of all, when there was no natural hope, he had a supernatural hope. Against all natural hope, he moved into the realm of the supernatural. Hope, we know, is what? Favorable expectation. When you can't expect anything good in the natural, expect it in the supernatural. That's what walking in the faith of Abraham is all about. That is what appropriating the promises of God is all about. You don't deny the circumstances, like so many people have tried to say and like Christian Science does. Christian Science tries to deny what's real. Christian Science calls things that are as though they're not. Faith calls things that are not as though they are. We've talked about that before. The Christian Scientists, for instance, if they break their arm, and that arm is sitting there and it's broken and it's just kind of sitting there, and some guy says, Oh, man! When did you break your arm? [The response is,] Oh, I don't have a broken arm. You don't? No. Well, what's that thing just flopping around over there? Oh, it's not broken, it's just that the bones are not attached! And so, we try to come up with some way of denying what's real. That's not faith; that's stupidity. That's fear that would motivate somebody in that way. Fear that will not allow them to deal with the circumstances of reality because they don't really believe there's a solution, so they have to deny it. Faith can say, Yes, there's a broken arm, but I have a God who can heal, amen? I don't deny the circumstances, because I have faith, trust, hope in God being the solution. And so you can see why people try to deny things. It's because they have fear that God is not going to manifest the promise on their behalf or in these circumstances. A denial of reality because of a fear that God is not real. For those that come to Him must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those that what? Diligently seek Him.

And so, hope then—who against hope (no natural hope) believed in a supernatural hope. Some people say that maybe we can understand it this way: that it's talking about "against hope," or in other words, he came up to and embraced and came against hope and embraced hope, and that caused him to then believe in hope or a favorable result. It's saying the same thing if you want to say it that way. Once we come into and embrace the presence of God—because that's the source of hope, the promise, favorable expectation, or believing what God had promised—then will cause you to move in that and begin to declare it and begin to walk in it or in that direction. Going, not knowing where.

"Who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations, according to that which was spoken, So shall thy seed be." In other words, it was the promise, the word, that motivated him. The word is the source of hope in our lives. The word is the source of faith in our lives. So if you're going to have hope, you're going to have to get up against the word of God, aren't you? You're going to have to have the word in your heart. You're going to have to know and believe what God says in any given circumstance. In the physical, one of the things we know that God says is this, and we can never approach it any other way: the Bible makes it very clear that it pleased God to bruise Jesus on our behalf, and the Scripture says that by his stripes, then, we are healed. And so I always, no matter what the circumstances are, when I am opposed by physical adversity, what's the first thing that I ought to do? I ought to believe, know, hope, and trust that God is going to make me whole, and nothing else is going to come up in my heart or in my mind. Now, if I don't receive an instantaneous miracle, then this is what we've been taking all this time and study about—now I have to understand that God, through some process, is going to work his glory in my life through teaching me in the midst of this adversity because it's good for me to have been afflicted, the Scripture says. How many of you have found out in your own lives that the worse thing that can happen to you is for everything to go well? I'm talking about everything is smooth, man! You feel great; you just wake up and nothing hurts, and you're full of energy. I can't even remember what that feels like! You have joy and peace. You've got some sound in your pockets—got a little change rattling, man; you've got excess. Things are going good! And when they do, the Scripture says we have a tendency to forget God. Don't make me so prosperous that I forget you or so poor that I have to steal or rob. Bring me into that place where I can be a partaker of your daily bread, and with absolute thanksgiving know that you're my source. The daily provision is what makes us daily aware of your presence. It's the awareness of his presence that brings us peace and strength. That's what we're going to see in this morning's study, if we get going.

It says in verse 19 that not only was he the father of faith, the one who believed in hope though there was no natural hope, but he was also declared as not being weak in faith. Now, the not being weak in faith is defined here by the Holy Spirit as this: "...he considered not his own body now dead..." Weak faith considers the adverse circumstances. When I talk about "considered" here, you have to understand what's being said. The word "considered" here means to attentively, just continue to, dwell upon or look upon, to attentively keep your eyes or your mind on the negative (the adverse circumstances), to be paralyzed by doubt and fear (adversity), to lose the ability to hope. There's no hope, and you've lost sight of God. When it says "considered," it doesn't mean that there's not times when negative thoughts come into your mind, that you doubt, that you may even make some kind of a negative move. It's not talking about that. It's talking about an attentive, a dwelling upon, to be carnally minded. You remember the book of Romans speaks, and over in the next chapter, just turn over a page, and when you look over at these particular passages, it's very important—chapter 8, verse 6 says, "For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace." "For they [verse 5] that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh..." That just means to set your intent upon or your focus upon, to be totally caught up in that thought process—thinking toward the carnal, thinking toward the temporal, thinking toward the area of lust, thinking toward the area of selfishness and pride and all of these different things. That's what the Spirit of God is saying here in this 4th chapter. Abraham did not dwell upon the natural circumstances. He had to face them. It's a fact: Sarah's womb is barren. And finally now, his own body has ceased to function. Do you think for a moment that Abraham was able to just say, Praise, God! No problem!? Abraham is thinking, Now what? No, Abraham's a man of faith; he wouldn't ever think about anything other than the promise of God! Yes, he did; we've already looked at it. But he didn't dwell upon it. Every time God visited him and spoke, he was encouraged. There was not a time when God visited him that he did not move positively.

It's the same with the life of David. You look at David's life, and we all understand that it takes those moments of visitation, beloved, to keep us on course. What was it that happened in the life of Abraham and the life of David as you study—David being the man after God's own heart? He made a lot of mistakes, but when he was encountered with the word of God, he always chose it over his own emotions and over the apparent circumstances. What happens when the prophet's eyes are opened and sees the great host of angels upon the mountaintops? You consider Him faithful who promised, and regardless now of the magnitude of the hosts that stand before you, you believe that what God has spoken, He's going to perform. But, beloved, in between those visitations—whether it's an audible voice, whether it's a vision, whether it's the daily study of the word of God and the faith that comes through God revealing himself in his word—every time you hear the word, your heart now leaps within you as those who were on the road to Emmaus. You say, This is Him who's been raised from the dead, who's here to fight on my behalf. I judge Him faithful who promised. Then a little time goes by, and we start getting a little bit discouraged again. And God, in his grace and mercy, will speak a word in season through a brother or sister's testimony. We look at someone else who faithfully endured trials and adversities, and they comfort us with the same comfort wherewith they've been comforted. We hear the word of God being spoken on the lips of a brother or sister, and all of a sudden faith begins to rise in our hearts, and we choose to believe the promise instead of our own fears and have our own self-pity. If that's how you respond, then God will say about you that you were strong in faith, not weak, but strong in faith, for you consider not your own body, your own circumstances, the hopelessness of the natural, your body dead nor the deadness of Sarah's womb.

Aren't you glad that the judgment of God is not upon every thought or decision, but upon the end product of our obedience to his word? Because the Scripture goes on and tells us that, "He [father Abraham] staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God." (Verse 20) Strong faith will always boast in God. When it's talking about giving glory to God, it's not just talking about thanking Him for what He has done. Giving glory to God isn't thanksgiving alone. Glorifying God—the word "glory" means to boast in. How many of you brag on God before He answers? How many of you boast in the goodness of your Father regardless of the immediate circumstances? How many of you really believe, beloved—as I was sharing with you a couple of services ago, in some of the trials that we've been through, the one thing I can say in all of these trials is that it wasn't the thing of, Oh, God! Why me, Lord? I've been so good, and I deserve so much better. I want you to understand, beloved, that in the midst of these trials, there was the time of just saying, Father, you've blessed me exceedingly abundant above anything that I could have ever asked or thought. Who am I that you would visit me and dwell within me? Who am I that you would die on my behalf? Everything we have had that was good was a gift and the mercy of God, and I just thank you, and I thank you, Father, for your goodness to me. Boasting, glorying in God for who He is, not for what He's providing. Strong faith always boasts in the character of God, and then in the provision of God.

Isn't that what Father was trying to get out of Job? The whole process was that Job would stop trying to justify himself and boast in the integrity of God. So many of us, beloved, get caught up in this self-justification, self-pity, instead of just thanksgiving for all the good things He's done in our lives. Number one (and nothing else counts) is our redemption—the fact that we were enemies, and now we're sons; we were dead, and now we're alive. What else can we hope for? What else matters than being called "friend"?

And so Abraham, here it says he staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief. The word "staggered" there is an interesting word. It just really talks about having two minds—back and forth, back and forth. It's not talking about the fact that there were times when he was lacking understanding. It's not talking about the times that there were frustrations or fears, because the word here doesn't just talk about doubting, having those times of question. The word "staggered" is a very interesting word. It means to pass final judgment, to judge between two. In other words, he never came to the place where he judged himself righteous and God unrighteous. He never judged himself meritorious and God merciless. You see, this is what it's all about, beloved. A lot of people in the midst of circumstances judge God; they find Him guilty. That's what the book of Job is all about. We're involved in so many of life's trials and circumstances. Have you already determined in your heart that the Judge of all the earth does right? That was Abraham's declaration, wasn't it? With Sodom and Gomorrah, he stood in intercession. He was even getting concerned himself that he kept working things down: God, peradventure there be ten! I mean, surely you're going to find ten! There wasn't one righteous in Sodom of their own merit. The grace, the favor, and the righteousness that came to Lot was because of Abraham. Righteous Lot was based upon the covenant to Abraham. And so, it's very important, beloved, for us to see that as Abraham is looking at the judgment of God and asking that question, Surely, peradventure there'd be ten? Okay, for ten I'll spare it. What gave him the boldness to make that kind of an intercession? Him being absolutely convinced of one thing and one thing alone: the Judge of all the earth does right. That's the bottom line. When you can move in that, you won't stagger at the promise. God makes a promise; here's the apparent circumstances. What do I judge? "God must have failed. Maybe the Lord doesn't love me. Maybe God's not able. Maybe..." No. Double-mindedness judges God based upon the apparent circumstances. I'm not judging; it's not over yet. His promises and his perspective are eternal. Who am I to judge God? When it says Abraham was strong in faith, it just meant this: he understood his role and God's role, his perspective (time and space) and God's (eternal), his perspective (finite) versus infinite. And yet, how many of us are quick to pass judgment, saying, God didn't answer prayer; God failed; maybe God is judging you for something? We talked about people that are dealing with areas that are prolonged, chronic situations. How often you have Job's comforters that want to come in and tell us why these things are going on, and why we should have been healed twenty years ago. Those are people that are double-minded; they're judging between two things; they're judging based upon their perception, and not with confidence in God's promises. What's it matter if it's been twenty years? What's twenty years got to do with anything as it pertains to "faithful is He"? Once we begin to get the eternal perspective, we will, like Abraham, be judged of God as not judging Him. He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief.

There were things that he did that were apparently natural, his own strength, things that looked like unbelief. But, beloved, the final question is: in the end, did he trust God? Now remember, these statements that are being made were not just based upon (and we'll see this in Hebrews 11 in just a moment) the conception of Isaac. But in fact, all of these things are linked to (and this is what we want to emphasize this morning) the offering up of Isaac, the promise of God. So, when we read all of this about Abraham, we're not just reading about the trials of departing his own country, and going into a land not knowing where the Spirit of God would take him, the apprehending of a miraculous gift of the birth of Isaac. But all of this is taking place for one thing. It's all preparatory—this is so important; get it in your hearts; get it in your minds; we're going to refer to it again in a moment when we go to Genesis. Everything that we've talked about to this point, beloved, was preparation for the offering up of Isaac—all of these trials, all of the journey, all of the questions. Why was God giving him revelation a piece at a time? Why didn't He just show him the whole picture? Wouldn't it have made things easier? Of course it would have! But what's happening is God is building in Abraham the character to believe, trust, and act, not knowing.

That's what's necessary in our lives. Now, stop and think with your children—that's why even with raising our kids in the natural—beloved, don't get yourself in the place where with your little kids, you have to explain everything to them. When you speak to your child—we've all heard the old adage, right?—when Dad says, Jump, no questions asked. Jump and don't come down until he tells you! We know it in the military, don't we? We know it in different aspects of competition, in athletics and stuff with our coaches. In the military when you're given a command, you respond without any questions asked. Why? The time could come when it will save your life. "Hit the deck!" "Why?" Bang! "Oh!" Everything in the life of Abraham (and you'll see that as we go back to Genesis in just a moment), all of these trials, were for that one reason. God is going to ask you to do something beyond your comprehension, beyond anything that you could understand, at a time that you think not, in a way that you don't even imagine. And you'll be prepared to respond in hope, with a great favorable expectation, because through all of this process, you begin to see the end. You see him raised in a figure, the Scripture says. That word "figure" just means a parable. What's a parable? A parable is a story; it's a story that brings and reveals a greater truth. In this life of Isaac, there was a greater truth being revealed. It was the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. Abraham began to see that it was not the temporal that God was trying to make real to him, but the eternal. Have you seen that yet in the trials you're in? This trial isn't the issue. It's the character that's being worked in us, in our household, for a greater end—the ability to believe God in the end. It's how you finish. It's not whether you're believing God and getting the instantaneous healing. It's whether you're able to believe God and trust and rely upon Him, that in the end, in the final judgment, you've counted Him faithful, and He calls you "friend."

And so, in Abraham's life, the Scripture says here, he staggered not, but was strong in faith, giving glory to God. "And being fully persuaded..." That word "persuaded" just means convinced once for all. There came the time in his life that he was convinced once for all. How many of you know that was not when he went into Hagar? How many of you know that was not when he said, Let Eliezer be the heir? We've got Eliezer; we've got Ishmael. We now have the birth of Isaac. Through all of that, Abraham learned about the faithfulness of God, and when God asked for Isaac back, he was convinced once for all. I don't fully understand what's going on here. All I know is, faithful is He who promised who will do it. Fully persuaded, once for all—a whole life process of bringing us to a once-for-all persuasion. How many of you think that all the trials we've gone through are worth it to come to that once-for-all, to know within yourself I've made the decision—to be able to answer and come to grips with, Lord, Thou knowest? Loveth thou me? Thou knowest; I don't know. I'm not going to make any other foolish statements or proclamations. All I know is: You know, you're faithful, and whatever you say, I'm going to do it. I'm going to obey. I may not like it, don't understand it, but I judge you faithful. Convinced once for all that He who promised was able to perform it.

It comes down to that question that was asked over in Genesis. "Is any thing too hard for the Lord?" If the promise hasn't manifested yet, then, beloved, listen. The natural mind will say, Okay, either God can't or God won't. In every institution, in every approach to the natural mind and logic, that's the only thing that can be entertained. Either God can't or God won't. He promised it and He's not able to perform, or He promised it and He's not going to do it for you. Logic tells us it has to be one of those two. But I'm here to tell you there's another understanding. God can; God will; it hasn't manifested in the natural yet; it's still in the spiritual realm. I hope and I believe and I boast in God, and I glory in Him, and I count Him faithful, and I judge Him righteous. And the natural mind looks at us and says, You're a fool; you're an idiot. Don't you understand that all of the laws of logic demand that you make this kind of a decision? But we're not limited to natural laws or perception because we follow Him who's invisible, and we judge Him faithful who promised—a God who calls things that are not as though they were. And that's where I am.

Hebrew 11 tells us this—as we look at the Hebrews 11 account; we've read through it so many times. But I want you to see this in preparation for going up Mt. Moriah in just a moment. You know that thing you're believing God for, that thing that's so important to you right now, that thing that you think if God would answer, if God would provide, all would be well? When He does, He's going to have you offer it back up somewhere. When it does manifest, you're going to have to offer it up somewhere. The fulfillment of the promises are not for you; they're for the glory of God. And so, we find here in the life of Abraham again, Hebrews chapter 11, talking about Abraham as we're studying him, "By faith Abraham, [verse 8] when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went." You don't need to know where you're going. Go.

We know the story, how men are so infamous for not asking for directions: Where are we going? I don't know, but we're making good time! That's the one thing—if you're riding with me, we're making good time, man! I don't know exactly where we're going, but we're making good time. Abraham was making good time. He didn't have a clue where he was going, but he obeyed. "By faith he sojourned..." (Verse 9) Faith is always a sojourning process. In other words, you're not going to stay where you are. We seem to think, If I can get this, I'll be content. If this could only manifest, I'll finally come to that place of understanding God, and I'll know that God is faithful. Beloved, you will not. It's always a sojourning process. There's no place to set roots down in this pilgrimage that we're in. This isn't our home. We're not looking for treasures that are temporal. Verse 10, "For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God." You are never, never a candidate for the promise of God if what you're looking for is temporal. We're looking for a city with foundations, whose builder and maker is God. Every natural promise that we receive carries with it spiritual edification. I'm not talking about all natural blessings or natural positive circumstances. I'm talking about if God's the author of it, it'll have an eternal consequence. It'll bring more than the healing to your body. It'll bring an appreciation for God. It'll bring an awareness of your own frailties. It'll bring an appreciation for others around us that are suffering so that we can begin now to comfort them with the same comfort wherewith we've been comforted. There's a whole lot more that comes to us when we understand that the process is spiritual and eternal, and not temporal. He looked for a city with foundations, whose builder and maker is God.

You read down, then, into verse 17, and this is where we want to go for this morning and into this evening's teaching. The great patriarchs, verse 13 says, died in faith, not having received the promises, but seeing them afar off—persuaded, embraced, and confessed their pilgrimage on earth, declaring plainly that they seek a country, a better country (verse 16), a heavenly country. When you declare that plainly, when that's your boast, and that's what you declare among those that are watching your life, God will not be ashamed to be called your God, the Scripture says. When you put yourself out and say, Look, this may be your perception, but I want you to understand something. I'm looking at it with spiritual eyes. I'm not moved by these circumstances. This that you're saying is truth or this that you're saying is the verification of whether God cares or whether He has, that's not what I'm looking at. Children that can have that kind of confidence in the integrity of their God, God takes pride in you, and He'll call you his child. And it says that He's prepared for us a city. "I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also." [John 14:2-3] So we have that promise of the treasures of God in the eternal realm, a city being built, a country to be possessed.

The Scripture says in verse 17 [Hebrew 11], "By faith Abraham, when he was tried [tested], offered up Isaac..." We look at this trial or this testing process, and we always look at it from the negative. But, you know, a test isn't real bad when you pass it, when you get that "A," one hundred percent, vindication of all of your time and study and preparation—a lot of preparation, a lot of anxiety, and then the great rejoicing in having proved ourselves faithful and hearing well done. That's what Abraham was going into here. All of those other tests and trials were preparation for this hour in his life. And Abraham then, when he was tried, offered up Isaac. Look at that one phrase: "...when he was tried, [he] offered up Isaac." This is the culmination of his whole life! "...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 also he received him in a figure."

Let's go back from the spiritual—I'm not talking about the natural; we'll look at a couple of those aspects in just a moment. But from the spiritual, let's go back and look at how logical this thing is. What's the big deal of offering up Isaac? Now, the Scripture makes it a big deal. But in spiritual hindsight, we look at this one fact. Who is this guy Isaac? Let's understand for just a moment. Where did he come from? How was Isaac born—of two living people or two dead people? He was already dead! He was born of two dead people, begotten by two dead people! He was raised by two dead people! Isaac was the gift of God. There was nothing natural that Abraham or Sarah provided. They were vessels chosen of God. Everything in them that functioned naturally, functioned because of the supernatural, the miraculous, the intent, the purpose, the heart of God. God was the source. All Abraham was doing was offering him back to the source. He brought him to life once from the dead. What's the problem with doing it again? The whole realm, the whole operation of this young man, is the supernatural—born of two dead, now being asked of God to be offered back. What's He saying: Abraham, is he yours or mine? Did you produce this, or did I produce it? And in our lives, beloved, we're going to have to ask that. Whether it's about our own spiritual maturity, whether it's going to deal with the physical aspects of our life or social or whatever it might be, are we going to account God the source?

Let's look at Genesis real quickly. That's God's summation in the New Covenant of Abraham: staggered not, fully persuaded. We go back and we look at the Genesis account, and in Genesis chapter 22—and remember we said all of the prior tests were preparation for this hour, "And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham..." (Verse 1) Let me encourage you with the fact that many of the things that you're facing right now that seem to be the hardest things in your life, God is the author of it. God will not tempt us to sin, but God will tempt—test, try—us for his own glory, to reveal in us his grace producing our faithfulness because all the glory and the boast is in the faithfulness of his children to Him, a people judging Him faithful who had promised. So God, tempting him, says, "Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of."

Now, this is interesting. The Bible says God will not allow us to be tempted past that which we're able to stand. Jesus, going before us, has been tempted in every way such as we are, and without sin. He's the author, the finisher, of our redemption. He's the head of his church. He's gone before us. He's faithfully endured all of these, and his grace is now working in us that we might endure. Look to Him as the source of strength in the midst of these trials. Don't look for answers as to why; look to the faithfulness of God in the midst of the furnace. Look for the fourth man. The awareness of the fourth man always precedes the deliverance from the furnace. The awareness of the fourth man is what allows only the fetters to be burned and not our clothes, and not even the smell of smoke upon our garments. That's what this word "Moriah" is talking about. The word "Moriah" is an interesting word. It means literally "the manifestation of Jehovah"—go into the place where I will manifest myself to you. Would you rather live in ease and comfort without the manifestation, without the presence, or would you rather be in the furnace with the fourth man? Go into the land of Moriah, the manifestation of Jehovah, and offer your son a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of. Do you know the thing I like about this one phrase? Why didn't He have him offer him up where he was? Why not in Beersheba? Why not in the well of the seven covenants? Do you want to know why? Because you can't offer Isaac up in any place other than where the manifestation of Jehovah is. You can't do it in your own strength. There's the environment of faith and the revelation of God's presence that enables us to be obedient. And He directs us into that place in his time.

"Then on the third day…" (verse 4)— you know, the third day of the resurrection of Jesus. From the time Abraham moved to kill his son until the time God raised him from the dead was three days. How could God ask Abraham to kill his son, the promise, the innocent? The answer becomes very clear, doesn't it? God was willing to give his Son, the innocent. He asks of us nothing that He hasn't done for us. Jesus bore everything we as a congregation in toto have borne. You add up all of our pain in our bodies and all of our emotional distress, you add up all of the warfare that we're involved in, the heartbreak of our children, the rejection of our friends, and Jesus experienced it all. Put upon that every congregation in the world, and Jesus experienced it all. Add to it every congregation for two thousand years, and Jesus paid the price and has declared for us, beloved—over sin, over pain, over disease, over fear—the victory. He said, It's finished; I've paid the price, and all that you're experiencing is going to cause you to answer this question: Are you going to judge my work successful or not? You're tasting for a moment the adversities, but are you going to judge my work faithful? Turn to I Peter, chapter 1, the end of verse 3, the Lord having "begotten us again unto a living hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ," begotten us, made us alive, favorably expecting by his own death and resurrection, now a living hope, having said that we are the recipients (verse 4) of an inheritance incorruptible, undefiled, one that fades not away , reserved in heaven for you, you who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation. This is the issue, beloved. Do we judge Him faithful? There's a treasure; there's a mansion, a dwelling place. If it were not so, I would have told you, the Master said. A city whose builder and maker is God, a heavenly reward for those who are kept by the power of God. "Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations: That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ: Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory. Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls." (Verses 6-9) Are you putting everything else into perspective, that it's working for the salvation of your soul? The trials you're experiencing right now are for the salvation of your soul. The experiences that are adverse right now are the purging for the salvation of your soul. It's God working on our behalf. The victory has been won; it's already settled, beloved. We are more than conquerors. We're victorious. These adverse circumstances are temporal; they're going to pass away. But the promises are sure to a thousand generations.

That's what's happening back here in Mt. Moriah. Are you judging Him faithful who promised? How can I dare offer up my son? Because God offered up his. And Abraham saw that in a figure. God revealed to him the finished work of Jesus. He didn't know how, but he knew that in Isaac the seed was going to be blessed. Would God raise him from the ashes? Abraham judged Him faithful. Did Abraham see that God was going to spare him? I believe not, because he had to be stopped in the midst of the sacrifice. And do we forget that there's another character in this scenario? Is Isaac going to be allowed to become the perpetrator of the promises of God, the fulfilled blessing to the nations, and himself not being proved faithful? Abraham tells his servants, Wait here. The lad and I are going to worship, Genesis 22:5, and will come again to you. Interesting statement: "...I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you." I don't know what Abraham is experiencing at this time. He's saying, We're going to come back. God said, I want you to offer him up as a burnt offering. The one thing I do know is that Abraham has learned by this time not to try to figure it all out. I can see Abraham in his own mind thinking that he's going to be coming back with this urn under his arm with all these ashes. "Where is Isaac?" "Right here; and God is able to raise him up again." "When?" "I don't know—one of these days. Maybe we'll go home, and God will say, Take off the lid; throw the ashes in the air, and (poof!) Isaac is back!" There's no figuring this thing out. It's the proving of an absolute reliance on the promise of God. All Abraham knew was that Isaac would be a vessel used to bring about the lineage of the Messiah. He didn't understand all the details about it.

We all know the story; I love this. "And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, and laid it upon Isaac his son [It's bad enough you're going to get burned up, you've got to carry the wood?]; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife; and they went both of them together. And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and said, My father: and he said, Here am I, my son. And he said, Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?" (Verses 6-7) Well, son, God spoke to me when we left, and He said I'm going to have to kill you, burn you! How many of you realize that you don't always have to give all of the specifics of what God is doing at any given time in your life? I've found out over the years that when God has spoken to me, I just didn't say anything. Because a lot of things Father's asked us to do I didn't understand, and I was pretty sure nobody else would if I told them. So the only thing you can say is, "...God will provide himself a lamb..." (Verse 8) Now you can understand that in two ways, can't you? God will provide himself a lamb, or God will provide Himself a lamb. Isn't that what Abraham saw in the figure—God providing Himself the sacrifice? Don't worry, son; we're going to Moriah, the place of the manifestation of Jehovah. God will provide his presence, Himself. His presence is sufficient. He himself is the Lamb of God slain from the foundation of the world.

"And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together. And they came to the place which God had told him of..." This is an interesting place, Moriah. Moriah is fairly broad; you can't pinpoint any little specific lump. But we're talking in Moriah the place where David, of course, worshiped and purchased from Araunah the land where eventually the temple was erected. Mt. Moriah is the temple site. It's inclusive, not only of where the Holy of Holies resided in the temple, but it also included just across the now-known wall this little place that we call Golgotha—Calvary—the place of Jesus' death. This is the land that God caused Abraham to lift up his eyes and see. As Abraham is journeying with Isaac up that hillside to the manifestation of Jehovah, he said, "God will provide himself a lamb." Their rejoicing that comes later is seen in this declaration of God's name in verse 14. "And Abraham called the name of that place, Jehovah-jireh: as it is said to this day, In the mount of the Lord it shall be seen." Jehovah-jireh; in the mount of the Lord it shall be seen. The greatest way to interpret—and there's a lot of study that's gone into this. I spent quite a bit of time just yesterday evening refreshing myself through the study of Keil and Delitzsch on this particular word. It's an interesting study. It's not only applicable to the incident, but it's prophetic. So when Abraham said, This place is called Jehovah-jireh, he's saying, This is the place on which the provision shall be seen of the Lord. He was prophesying Golgotha; he was prophesying the death of Jesus through the offering up of Isaac. The provision was not just the ram that was caught in the thicket that was sacrificed on behalf of Isaac. It was all the revelation of the purpose and the intent of God, to send to that place the provision for us: Jehovah-jireh, the Lord our provider. It goes one step further, and this to me is one of the greatest blessings and revelation of all of this. The provision was not that ram caught in the thicket. The provision was the prophetic Lamb of God, Jesus, that was to come. And when we say Jehovah-jireh, the Lord my provider, it's seen only in this way, and it is limited to this. Jehovah-jireh is best interpreted this way: the Lord's provision is in his presence—the manifestation of Jehovah. God provides by his presence. It's not the object, the manifestation of the discernible promise, that we're looking for, but the hope and faith that accompanies his presence. Because his presence guarantees the promise—now or in eternity. That's what Mt. Moriah is all about, and that's what this trek up the hillside was all about.

"And they came to the place which God had told him of; and Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood." (Verse 9) Isaac's a young man; he could have easily gotten away. He's absolutely in subordination to his father. He chose, just like Jesus chose to be willingly offered up on our behalf. "And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son." (Verse 10) As he's prepared to reach across and slit his son's throat, the angel of the Lord prohibits him (verse 11). "And he said, ...now I know that thou fearest God..." (Verse 12) Our fear for God is only seen in our obedience, not our words.

What is it that brought us to this point? Abraham was a tried and proven man. He now became the personification of God's faithfulness. Abraham could not have obeyed, beloved, to this degree if he had not been through all the other trials. Father, make it real in our lives, in Jesus' name.

According to I Peter, the biggest trial is still coming for you and I. It's going to be that final test. As Gary comes, we're going to take a moment in the presence of the Lord and allow Him to speak to us. But the biggest trial is coming; the biggest test is coming. You say, Man, I've been through some pretty heavy duty things! Do you mean I've got bigger problems than this coming? Not necessarily. It doesn't mean that you're going to have to go into worse financial stress, more physical pain, greater domestic problems. When I say the greatest trial is coming, I'm talking about the ability to endure until the end, to not be dissuaded by pressures and trials, or not to be overcome by abundance and prosperity and ease. Everything you've been through is preparatory so that the trying of our faith might bring forth some gold that will be found to the praise and the honor of God. The greatest trial is going to be that final trial of our faithfulness. Have we counted Him faithful who promised? Everything preceding where you are today is for the purpose of enabling you to finish today in faith, in hope, by the grace of God. Because today is the day of our salvation. Everything else prepared us for today.

Where are you today? Where are you this morning? Where is your hope? Where is your trust? Where are your ambitions this morning? If you're here this morning, and all that's occupying your thoughts are your own natural desires, your own intentions, your own lusts; you're caught up today with concerns over the family pressures, finances, the job; your mind this morning is reeling over all of the cares of this world, and we've been talking about Jesus' sacrifice on Calvary, and you haven't been able to focus on it, and it hasn't caused thanksgiving to rise in your heart, and it hasn't caused a pause to say, I've got to do more to bring glory and honor to God, finish the work in me, Lord, show me more of my heart, show me what's necessary in bringing praise to your name, but your mind's been occupied on the temporal, then you're not ready for Moriah. His presence will not manifest in that environment. And tragically, as we'll see in tonight's study, people die in the wilderness because they've not judged Him faithful, but said ten times, God brought us out here to kill us! I've got to do something; I've got to scramble; I've got to make up the difference; I've somehow got to make provision; I've got to build a wall against the enemies; I've got to obtain daily provision, instead of the spirit of Caleb who declared God well able. Have you staggered at the promises? Are you double-minded, or have you judged Him faithful?

Let's stand this morning and worship Him. As Gary plays, we're a people hoping against hope; we're a people fully persuaded that what God has promised, He's able to perform. Where are you this morning? Are you glorying in God? Are you rejoicing in all of his goodness? Hallelujah. Father, make it real in the name of Jesus.

We're going to finish tonight with those who didn't inherit the promise, those that died in the wilderness. You might want to read Numbers 14 and Romans 4 this afternoon. Jesus has finished the work; the victory's been won, but some aren't going to make it. Some of us in this room this morning are going to die in the wilderness, but your children are going to go in. You don't have to die. He's not willing that any would perish. But we must cease from our own works to enter into the rest of God. You've got to stop building your own kingdom. You have to stop trying to earn your status as sons, but rest in the finished work of Jesus, counting Him faithful.

Let's sing it together and just worship Him this morning. "Jesus, draw me close…"

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