An Uncompromising Faith

There is a verse in the book of Hebrews which always sends shivers down my spine when I contemplate the reality of its statement. The verse stands in complete contrast to the chapter in which it figures, for the verse is found in chapter 11 of Hebrews, which is the great hall of faith chapter of the worthies who live by faith. Chapter 11 rings with the declarations of those who possessed unshakable faith.

We read, by faith Noah, by faith Abraham, by faith Jacob, by faith Joseph, and so on, as it records their lives as of these stalwarts who walked with their God. But in verse six, we find a bump in the road in this building crescendo of faith. Verse six declares, but without faith it is impossible to please him.

What does this mean? I've asked myself countless times. I've come to the conclusion, friends, that verse six centers in the life of a believer who will be given ample opportunities to exercise his faith in his God as he walks with his God in this sin-cursed world. I believe that a faith that is exercised time and time again is a faith that is upon the sound foundation.

And as we walk with our God, if we fail to exercise the faith in him as we should, if we stumble like Peter and deny him, if we lie to protect our skins like Abraham, if we deceive others like Jacob, we will be given ample opportunities to pass the test of faith next time around. There are trying seasons in life where faith may stumble, but true saving faith will persevere to the end as it sees the invisible and hangs on to the anchor within the veil. My message this evening, friends, is about faith, and my message is entitled Uncompromising Faith, and my text can be found in Genesis chapter 22.

You may turn in your Bibles there now, friends. We will be in Genesis 22 beginning in verse one as it relates the story of the trial of Abraham's faith. Prior to chapter 22, we have witnessed the human stumbles of this man called Abraham.

In chapter 20, we catch Abraham in a lie. 20 verse 2 states, And Abraham said to Sarah, his wife, she is my sister. And the man of God is reproved by a pagan king.

Then in chapter 16, we see the old age foolishness of Abraham as he takes Hagar as his secondary wife. In his human weakness, he caves into the demands of his wife, Sarah, for a child, and we see the consequences of not waiting God's time and trusting in him to do what he has declared. Ishmael becomes the head of a race that strives against Israel to this day.

And in chapter 12 of Genesis, we see Abraham stumble again as he tells his wife while they are in Egypt. Say, I pray thee, thou art my sister, that it may be well with me. Here he is protecting his own skin with a lie, and Pharaoh has to reprove him.

But then we come to this glorious chapter of Genesis 22, and we stand in awe of the uncompromising faith of Abraham that is demonstrated in this remarkable chapter. As we see Abraham's faith and obedience in the sacrifice of his son Isaac, and this is where I'd like to camp out this evening, friends, as I look at what I call an uncompromising faith. Let me first read us our passage of scripture this evening, and then I will draw out of the text some truths which hopefully will be beneficial to you personally.

Here now is the word of God. May the spirit of the Lord be pleased to attend the reading of his holy word. And it came to pass after these things that God did tempt Abraham and said unto him, Abraham.

And he said, behold, here I am. And he said, 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. And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and claimed the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up, and went unto the place of which God had told him.

Then on the third day, Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place afar off. And Abraham said unto his young men, abide ye here with the ass, and I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you. And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, and laid it upon Isaac his son.

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? 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. 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.

And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son. And the angel of the Lord called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham. And he said, Here am I. And he said, Lay not thy hand upon the lad, neither do thou anything unto him.

For now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me. And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold, behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns. And Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering instead of his son.

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. And the angel of the Lord called unto Abraham out of heaven the second time, and said, By myself have I sworn, saith the Lord, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son, that in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the seashore. And thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies, and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because thou hast obeyed my voice.

Now friends, I want to look at four aspects from this passage in Genesis, and I will first list them and then elaborate upon each head as we proceed. Number one, God will place us in a trial where our faith is tried. Number two, God will give us ample opportunities to exercise our faith in obedience, or falter in our faith through unbelief and disobedience, to discover more of our own wicked heart, to humble us.

Number three, God will not forsake us in the midst of our trial, but rather he will enlarge us for further usefulness. And number four, God will draw us into a deeper walk with him through our trial as we experience more of him. Now let us take these one by one, friends.

First, God will place us in a trial where our faith is tried. It says to the Israelites in the wilderness that it was there God proved them to see what was in their hearts. I can make you a promise, friend, and it's a certainty in your life.

If you are a believer, if you've not already experienced this, you will. God will at some point in your life place you in a hot trial of adversity where your human resources are unable to help you, and all you have is your naked faith. God will place you in a trial.

I can promise you that, friend. Your faith will be tried. When I was a boy of 16, I got a job in a magic store, and the owner of the store called me aside on my first day at the job and gave me a task to complete.

He sent me down the street to the local bank with a deposit, and he told me, here's an envelope with a hundred dollars in it and a deposit slip for a hundred dollars to be deposited in my business checking account. Go do this and then come back to the store, and I will give you your next assignment. I dutifully walked down to the bank and made the deposit, and as I did, the teller at the bank said I had too much money in the deposit slip in the envelope.

The deposit slip said a hundred dollars, but the cash came to a hundred and twenty dollars. There were six twenties instead of five, so he gave me back one of the twenties. As I walked back to the magic store, I handed my boss the twenty dollar bill and told him what had happened.

He then informed me that I would now be able to keep my job. You see, he had to try me, test my honesty and integrity before he'd allow me to work with him in his store, and God will do the same, friend. He will test you and try you to see what's inside of you and how you behave under certain trying circumstances to test your faith.

To build up your physical body's endurance to exercise, you must work out and here too your faith to be exercised for it to be strengthened. Number two, God will give us ample opportunities to exercise our faith in obedience or falter in our faith through unbelief and disobedience to discover more of our own wicked heart to humble us. It is often the Christian who proudly stands on his self-confidence who is most apt to fall to pieces when things go against him.

Look at Peter and his bold declaration of allegiance to Christ, even to death, and then see his cowardice as he cowers before a maid in the courtyard of denial. God will allow us to see the holes in our walk with him so they can be filled in with a stronger faith for the future. Look at Abraham's various stumbles, friends, and his human frailties before he stands majestically on his faith in Genesis chapter 22.

Number three, God will not forsake us in the midst of our trial, but rather he will enlarge us for further usefulness. In Isaiah 41, it speaks of how God will help his people and in verse 15, it declares God's purpose in their affliction. Behold, I will make thee a new sharp threshing instrument having teeth.

Thou shalt thresh the mountains and beat them small and shalt make the hills as chaff. And we see King David as he was placed in trial after trial. He was hunted like a flea by King Saul and he comes through with a newfound understanding of himself and a newfound knowledge of his God.

In Psalm 4 verse 1, we read, hear me when I call, oh God of my righteousness, thou hast enlarged me when I was in distress. So friends, God will often place us in a deep trial in our life so he can enlarge us for further usefulness to him for his glory. Oh friends, don't shrink when trouble comes, for come it will.

Keep your eyes upon your God and stay upon him. Stand on his promises and stay close to him in prayer and faith. And lastly, God will draw us into a deeper walk with him through our trial as we experience more of him.

Look at the life of Moses and see how that man experienced his God. Look at the trials he was placed in, why the Red Sea was only the beginning of his problems as he led the vast horde of Jews out of Egypt. God tested Moses.

At times Moses stumbled. He struck the rock twice and it cost him physically to enter the promised land. But Moses stands tall in the hall of faith found in Hebrews chapter 11, friends.

Moses was a man like you and me. God knows we are but clay and he gives us ample opportunities to begin fresh with him. When our faith falters and we stumble, he wants to build our faith and draw us into a deeper walk with him so we can experience more of him before we enjoy him forever in eternity.

Isn't that wonderful, friend? Jesus is wonderful. Let's take this time now to go to our time of prayer. Let us pray.