Faith Exemplified - Abraham's Great Sacrifice of Faith

Well, if you would take your Bible and turn to Hebrews chapter 11, we will be in verses 17 to 19. Of course, we read Genesis 22, 1 to 19 to give us some context and background. I would encourage you to go and read more of those passages in Genesis that will give you the complete and total background of what we have here. But throughout the message, we'll be in verses 17 to 19, and of course, we'll reference a few other verses along the way.

Now, like I said in our scripture reading and our verses before us, the author of Hebrews is taking us back to the greatest example that's given here in Hebrews chapter 11, and I have referred to Hebrews 11 often as the Hall of Fame of the Saints of God. Now, last week I said, in a way, it is probably not good to call these men and women great saints because we do not want to give the impression that they were perfect saints. They certainly were not. But I said it is certainly good to call them our great, great grandparents in the faith. That is because spiritually speaking, Abraham is our great, great grandfather in the faith.

Galatians 3, 7 says, "Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham." Let me restate that. Paul says to the Galatian church, the Galatian believers, "Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham." And on down in verse 29, Paul says, "And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's offspring." Let me restate that. If you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's offspring heirs according to the promise. Although the important reality and truth we need to see right here is this. Abraham and all these saints were men and women of faith. And as born-again Christians, we can say it like this.

As Bible Christians, we truly are spiritual descendants of Abraham. And I believe we can say we are descendants of all of these saints of faith. And if that is the case, and it is, then we need to learn from their lives and their examples. We certainly need to walk in their footsteps so as to be men and women of faith just like they were. Of course, not making their same mistakes. This morning, we will see more of what living the life of faith looks like from a specific event in the life of Abraham. Now at this time, I want us to see what the author is doing here. This is big picture, taking a step back from the verses before us.

From verses 8 to 12, the author explained how Abraham lived the life of faith and that his entire life was a life of faith. Of course, he wasn't perfect. Sometimes he walked according to his own feelings. Sometimes he walked and lived according to the world's standards. Sometimes he even walked and lived according to his wife's sinful influence. And we have seen that in describing these saints before Abraham, that the author highlighted certain aspects of their life and how that part of their life related to the life of faith. Abel worshipped God by faith. Enoch walked with God by faith. Noah obeyed God by faith.

Well, here in verses 17 to 19, the author comes back from describing how the Old Testament saints lived and died by faith to highlighting a certain part of Abraham's life of faith. Specifically, the author highlights the time when God tested Abraham and called him to sacrifice his one and only son of promise, Isaac. And if you paid attention to our Genesis 22 verses, you noticed many times he was called Abraham's only son. But before we read our verses and get into our message, we need to make sure we see how these verses, verses 17 to 19, are connected to verses 8 to 12. We study verses 8 to 12 the week before last.

Here the author is not leaving behind his description of Abraham's entire life of faith that we studied in verses 8 to 12. He was simply moving on to describe the greatest test of faith from Abraham's life, which embodied, illustrated, and symbolized Abraham's entire life of faith. Let me restate that. Here the author is not leaving behind his description of Abraham's entire life of faith that we see in verses 8 to 12. He was simply moving on to describe the greatest test of faith from Abraham's life. And this test of faith embodied, it illustrated, and symbolized Abraham's entire life of faith. Let me give you an example that helps me.

Maybe it'll help you. I am kind of a history buff. I enjoy history. As a matter of fact, my wife sometimes says that I like boring television because I like things that are usually black and white. That means I'm watching something historical. She often says that I could have been a history teacher. I don't know. That wasn't the Lord's will for me. But one of my favorite historical figures from World War II is Winston Churchill, who was Prime Minister of Great Britain from 1940 to 1945, the first time.

One particular event in Winston Churchill's leadership that embodies and symbolizes the greatness of his leadership as Great Britain's Prime Minister during World War II was his great leadership during the Battle of Britain and the Blitz, which occurred from 1940 to 1941. It is no overstatement to say that Churchill, in Churchill alone, rallied the nation to stand all alone up against Nazi Germany and the invasion of England that all believed was sure to come. His powerful and motivating speeches and unwavering determination rallied the British people during horrific air raids and overwhelming odds.

Churchill's leadership helped secure an alliance with what became the Allied powers of the United States and the Soviet Union, which led to victory over Nazi Germany. And it is no overstatement to say that Churchill's leadership during that crucial time in the history of Great Britain truly embodies and symbolizes all that he was as one of Great Britain's greatest leaders. Well, that is what we have here with Abraham. The author was and is giving us the one event and test from Abraham's life that embodies, that illustrates, that symbolizes Abraham's entire life of faith. Well, that leads me to the title of the message.

This is all about faith exemplified Abraham's sacrifice of faith. Faith exemplified Abraham's sacrifice of faith. Now honestly, there is a part of me that wanted to title these verses, "Faith exemplified Abraham lived the life of faith," part two. That was the title of the message from verses 8 to 12. But I moved away from that because the author is giving us something a lot more specific. This is all about Abraham's sacrifice of faith. You see, that embodies and symbolizes Abraham's entire life of faith.

Now before we get into our verses and our message, we need to ask the question, "Who was Isaac?" We've already asked the question, "Who was Abraham?" and answered the question, "But who was Isaac?" Isaac was the miraculously born and much loved son of Abraham and Sarah, who was the child born of the promise through whom God's covenant with Abraham would continue, according to Genesis 17 and Genesis 21. What we know of his life is seen mostly from the book of Genesis. His life was characterized by a submissive obedience to his father when he was willing to be sacrificed there on the mountain.

Of course, God intervened and provided a ram as a substitute. We read of that earlier. By the Old Testament, Isaac is seen as a man of God who lived a long, successful, and obedient life in the land of Canaan according to God's command and promise. He fathered twins Esau and Jacob, many of you know that. Esau being the father of the Edomites and Jacob the father of the Israelites. We see that in Genesis 25 and Genesis chapter 26. And in the New Testament, Isaac is seen as an example of faith, even foreshadowing Christ Jesus. As we will see, the author of Hebrews here presents Isaac as a willing participant in God's plan for Abraham's life.

The Apostle Paul presents the greatest contrast between Isaac, the son of promise, and Ishmael, the son of Abraham and Sarah's sin and flesh, to illustrate the difference between the covenant of grace and the law. We know that and see that in Genesis, excuse me, Galatians 4, 22 to 28. The New Testament also speaks of Isaac's act of blessing his sons Jacob and Esau by faith concerning the future. And James in his letter uses Isaac's story to demonstrate the true and genuine faith is made complete by and through actions and obedience. See that in Genesis 2, verses 21 to 24.

Of course there's more we could say about Isaac, but that gives us a short but accurate biographical sketch of Isaac. Well, let's read our Hebrews verses and then I will explain to you how we will divide them. Verse 17 and 19. By faith, Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac and he who had received the promises was in fact was in the act of offering up his only son, of whom it was said, "Through Isaac shall your offspring be named." He considered that God was able to raise him up from the dead, from which figuratively speaking he did receive him back. Now out of these verses I want to make three observations.

First I want us to see how Abraham was tested by God. Second I want us to see how Abraham offered up Isaac as a sacrifice to God. And then last, how Abraham believed that God could raise Isaac from the dead. And in a great way, he did. And again, this is all about the one event or the event surrounding this one event which embodies and symbolizes Abraham's entire life of faith. So number one, I want us to see that Abraham was tested by God. We see that right there at the beginning of verse 17. Abraham was tested by God. Now to get at what we have here, I want to make four observations about this test. First the test.

Now we saw this test which came from God back in Genesis 22 verses 1 to 19. And here in Genesis 2 we have one of the most important, even one of the most famous Bible passages in all of scripture. But here God told Abraham to take Isaac, the son he loved deeply, the son who was to continue the life of promise. God told Abraham to take Isaac up to the land of Moriah and to sacrifice him there as a burnt offering. Of course we know what a burnt offering is. A burnt offering happened when an animal was killed, its blood was spilled out, and its body or its carcass was burned there on the altar by fire.

Now right here, all of us who are parents, if God tested us like this and called us to sacrifice a son or a daughter as a burnt offering, we would certainly say that a test of this nature could not be comprehended. We could even definitely say that a test of this nature could not be comprehended, accepted, or obeyed. You could be saying something like this, "Pastor, that was good enough for Abraham, but not for me." But mom's dads, if God called our son or our daughter to go be a missionary somewhere like China or North Korea or in the Middle East, would we be willing to lay them on the altar of God?

You might say, "Pastor Chris, it would be one thing for them to go to a country like Scotland or Ireland or Great Britain, that would be relatively safe." But you could say, "If they went to somewhere like China or North Korea or the Middle East, they certainly could be killed." Would you put them on the altar of God if God called them? To be used for God, to be used for the glory of God and the purposes of God like Abraham did his son? Will we put our children on the altar of God to be used for God and the glory of God no matter what? But then second, I want us to see the heart of this test.

Now the heart and the soul of this test was love and two loves. At the center of this test was Abraham's love for his son. Would he truly put his one and only son of promise on the altar, a son that he and Sarah dearly loved, and we saw that several times in Genesis 22, that he loved his son. Also at the center of this test was Abraham's love for God. Would he truly put his one and only son of promise on the altar because the God that he loved called him to do so? Now at this point, some could say that at the heart of these events was obedience. I could see that. But obedience to God must always be tied to a love for God. Let me restate that.

Obedience to God must always be tied to a love for God. If we do not obey God out of a supreme love for God, then we are not living the life of faith like we see here in Hebrews 11. Our faith, our life of faith would be nothing more than obeying rules if it's absent from a love for God. But the heart, the very center of this test was Abraham's great love for his son, Isaac, yes, but greater than his love for his son at the very center of this test was Abraham's greater love for his God. Now dads, moms, do we have this in the wrong order? Do we love God more than our children? Or do we love our children more than God?

Moms, do you love your children more than God? Dad, do you love your children more than God? How do we have this fleshed out and ordered out in our life? Then third, I want us to see the purpose of this test, the purpose of this test. And right here I want to ask a question. Think about it with me. Did God test Abraham to see what Abraham would do? Did God test Abraham to see what Abraham would do? Now the answer to that is no. God is God. God knew what Abraham would do, but Abraham did not know what Abraham would do. And this leads us to God's purpose in the test, you see.

Here in verse 17, the English Standard, the New American, the Legacy Standard used the word tested. The King James uses the word tried. And this phrase here, when he was tested, comes from a word in the original which means to put to the test, to test or to try for the purpose of discovering something's quality. And in this case it was a person discovering their behavior and their quality. And here this test of Abraham refers to the call or the act of God, putting Abraham to the test, to test and to prove the quality of his character and of his behavior, to test and to prove whether the thing that God called him to do could and would be done.

So the purpose of this test was to prove and to reveal Abraham's character and his behavior as his character and behavior related to God, related to his love of God, related to his obedience to God. Well, what did this test prove? The construction of the language really reveals just what this test proved. The construction of the language tells us that while the testing was in progress, Abraham had already offered up his son, meaning before the test had come to an end, by an act of his obedience through faith in God, Abraham had already made the sacrifice in his mind and in his heart. He embraced the test by faith. He obeyed God by faith.

He obeyed even before he saw any other outcome other than the fact that his son would be slaughtered and sacrificed. So the purpose of the test was to reveal, was to prove Abraham to Abraham. The purpose of the test was to reveal, to prove, to change, to mature, to grow and to further sanctify Abraham. In this sanctification, this growth, this maturity and change would not have taken place unless he embraced the test and even the outcome of the test. But then forth, I want us to see the contradiction of this test.

Now, I've already said that at the center or heart of this test was Abraham's love, his love for his son Isaac and his love for God. That's easy to see. But if we remember and know all that God told Abraham, we know that at the heart of this test was a great conflict and seeming contradiction. Simply in Genesis chapter 19 and 21, God had told Abraham that through Isaac, his offspring would be as numerous as the stars of the sky. God had revealed to Abraham that through Isaac, he would fulfill his promise. But in Genesis chapter 22, God called Abraham to sacrifice Isaac as a burnt offering which meant killing his son.

So this was a great contradiction. I'm sure humanly speaking, this led to a great conflict in Abraham's heart and mind. And on top of that, God had never before nor since called his people to sacrifice another human being. But as we will see, Abraham had the faith to believe that although this may have seemed like a contradiction from man's point of view, there was no contradiction in the heart and the plan and mind of God. Now there is a lesson here. There are times God will call us to a path of obedience to maybe a direction in life that seems contradictory to our way of thinking.

And in that seeming contradiction, there is a test, there is a question, will we obey God? Will we obey God? Or will we obey our feelings? Will we obey what everybody else is telling us? You see? There are times God will call us to a path of obedience, decisions of obedience, even a direction in life that seem contradictory in our way of thinking. And in that seeming contradiction, there is a test or a series of tests and all sorts of questions. Will we obey God? Or will we obey our feelings and what everybody else says? So God called Abraham to a great test. It is an understatement to say this was the test of his lifetime.

God called him to offer up his son, his one and only son, I promise, the son that he loved as a burnt offering meaning he would slay, kill his son. And although this test seemed to contradict all that God had been telling Abraham, even contradicting his very own word, his very own integrity and character, this test was perfectly in line with God's perfect character, God's perfect plan for Abraham's life and Isaac's life as we will see. The purpose of this test was to reveal and to prove Abraham to Abraham. This test was to change Abraham, to mature Abraham, to grow Abraham more and more into the man that God wanted him to be.

And at the heart of this test was Abraham's love, his love for his son and his love for his God. And Abraham proved that he loved God more than his own son. He proved that he loved God more than his own son. And look, church, look, brothers and sisters, tests will come. Tests do come in the Christian life and we either embrace them or run from them. Now I know I look 26, but I'm 56. And I've walked with the Lord long enough to see this, been serving in the life of the church since God saved me and put me in the church in 1989. You show me a Christian who runs from trial and test and I'll show you a terrible, you mature Christian.

Mature Christians embrace trial and walk in trial. And look, brother, look, sister, tests will come. Tests do come and we either embrace them or run from them. And as your pastor, I call you, I challenge you now, embrace the tests, embrace the trials that come your way. And look, in the midst of those trials, run to Christ, love him supremely, obey him wholeheartedly and bring those tests and trials to the very center of church and church life. And in the end, God will make you more and more into the Christian that he wants you to be. And one thing that God has taught us around here is this. Your test and your trial is not solely for you.

Don't be selfish in your test and trial. Your test and your trial is not only for you, but it is for the church. So Abraham was tested. Next number two, I want us to see that Abraham offered Isaac to God. Abraham offered Isaac to God. We see that in verse 17 as well. Here it's really plain to see when God tested Abraham and called him to sacrifice his one and only love son Isaac. By faith, the verse says, Abraham offered up Isaac. We read that in Genesis 22. We got the full story. But here the author of Hebrews shows us the completeness of this sacrifice, the fullness of this sacrifice, even the greatness.

And I want to use the word perfection of Abraham's sacrifice and offering. First I want us to see Abraham considered him truly dead. Abraham considered him truly dead. Here in verse 17, this phrase offered up Isaac comes from a word in the original that means to bring, it means to offer, but it is in the present tense which means that as far as Abraham was concerned, the sacrifice was already finished, it was a done deal. Bible scholar A.T. Robertson describes what happened here by saying, and I'm quoting him, the act was already consummated. You know what that term consummated means? It means to complete, to finish.

Robertson says the act was already consummated so far as Abraham was concerned when it was interrupted. Remember, it was interrupted by God. So this simply and truly means that while the sacrifice was in progress in Abraham's mind, in his heart, his son was already sacrificed. The act was done, the deal was done. And notice what this tells us about Abraham's character and love for God, even above his love for his son. This tells us that Abraham had no reservation about obeying God all the way to the end, even if it meant sacrificing his one and only son of promise, the son that he loved. Question for us all, do we love God this way?

Do we love God like Abraham loved and obeyed God? Can we? Could we ever love God this way and obey God this way? Then second, he offered his only son, here at the end of verse 17, we see that Isaac was named as Abraham's only son. We saw that often in Genesis 22, 1 to 19. But that leads me to a question, was Isaac, Abraham and Sarah's only son? Well the answer to that is no. So we have to ask a question, what does this mean here? This does not really mean that Isaac was Abraham's one and only son, as in he had no other.

It really means one and only unique son or the one and only son of promise and all his other sons were not sons of the promise. Listen to what the Amplified says here. It reads, "By faith Abraham, when he was tested, that is, as the testing of his faith, was still in progress, offered up Isaac. And he who had received the promises of God was ready to sacrifice his only son of promise." So the point here is this, there was only one son of promise, Isaac. And Abraham offered up to God his one and only son of promise and there was no other son to take his place. Then third, he offered his only hope for descendants or offspring.

Verse 18 says, "Of whom it was said, 'Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.'" Now this is a direct quotation from Genesis 21, 12 where God tells Abraham that through Isaac his offspring or his descendants shall be named. And language scholars tell us that this phrase, "Through Isaac," is in the emphatic, which emphasizes the fact that by God and through God, God had singled out Isaac as the line through which God would fulfill his promise to Abraham and give him descendants. So look at what the author is telling us here.

"Abraham offered Isaac upon the altar of God to be slain as a burnt offering to God, and he considered him as good as dead even when he was still alive and before he had completed God's command. And not only was Isaac as good as dead in Abraham's eyes and mind and heart, this was his one and only son of promise, the one and only son through whom God had promised to fulfill his promise to Abraham and to give him descendants." We need the Holy Spirit to answer them for us. Have we ever made great sacrifice for God? Have we ever made costly sacrifice for God? Would we make costly, great sacrifice for God in the life of our church?

If God called you to make great and costly sacrifice for God, would you? Could we? If we are true spiritual descendants of Abraham, we are to live the life of faith like Abraham. Then we should expect to sacrifice for God according to his will and plan for our life, and we should do as our great-great-grandfather did. If God calls, we should make sacrifice even great and costly sacrifice for God. So Abraham offered up Isaac. And then last, number three, Abraham believed God could resurrect or raise Isaac from the dead. Abraham truly believed that God could resurrect Isaac from the dead. We see this in verse 19. Let's read the verse.

"He," that's Abraham considered, it's a key word there, "that God was able to raise him from the dead, from which, figuratively speaking, he did receive him back." And you can add to that by saying, "He received him back from the dead." Now here, verse 19 could be the most important verse in all this teaching. Here we have the reason, the reason why Abraham was so very willing to sacrifice his one and only son before God. Now think about it. There had to be a reason or reasons why Abraham was willing to act as he did.

And what we have here is the one and only way in Abraham's mind now God could rectify this seeming contradiction in this horrific conflict that was before him. Three things I want us to see here. First, Abraham considered Isaac as dead. We have already seen this fact, but we need to revisit it again. Again, this phrase offered up Isaac is in the present tense, which tells us that as far as Abraham was concerned, the sacrifice of Isaac on the altar was done. It was finished. It was complete. In Abraham's mind, Isaac was already sacrificed before the sacrifice was ever made. Again, A.T.

Robertson says, "The act was already consummated." I love that. The act was already consummated, finished, complete so far as Abraham was concerned when it was interrupted, of course interrupted by God. So in Abraham's mind and heart now, the sacrifice was complete. It was done before the sacrifice was made. But then second, Abraham believed that God could raise him from the dead. Here in verse 19, the English Standard, the New American uses the word considered. The King James uses the word accounted. This means to reckon. This means to compute. It means to calculate. This is very important to understand here.

This tells us that in the mind of Abraham, this was not some passing or casual thought. Abraham clearly, purposely, and intentionally thought through all of these things. He computed in his mind and he calculated in his reasoning that God could and would raise Isaac from the dead. The King James really shows us how calculated Abraham was. It says accounting that God was able to raise him up. Accounting that God was able to raise him up even from the dead. And think about all the things he had to think and reason and calculate through. Abraham totally believed that he would offer up his son as a burnt offering to God.

That sacrifice was as good as done. It was complete in his mind. So he totally expected that God would raise him from the dead for several reasons. Because he knew that Isaac was the one and only son of promise. Because he knew that God had promised to fulfill his promises through Isaac. He knew that God had promised offspring or descendants through Isaac. So by faith and in faith and because of faith, Abraham believed that God could and would raise him up from the dead in his heart and in his mind. There was no other way. Do you see more and more why it is important to see that faith rests on tangible things?

I've said from time to time, biblical faith is not out there in the clear blue sky. Abraham's faith rested on, it was rooted in God and God's promises. Not on some kind of a spiritual wishful thinking. I've used this illustration. He had a nail to hang his hat on. He had tangible promises and words from God and that is what his faith rested on. And then third and figuratively speaking, Abraham did receive him back from the dead. Look at verse 19 again. And he considered, calculated that God was able to raise him up from the dead from which figuratively speaking he did receive him back from the dead.

We have seen that Abraham had come to the place where he believed that his son was as good as dead. God had commanded that Isaac be offered as a burnt sacrifice, a burnt offering and Abraham obeyed and he offered Isaac. And even though Isaac had not actually been sacrificed, the sacrifice was complete in his mind and in his heart. So when God stopped Abraham from actually taking Isaac's life to Abraham, it was like receiving him back from the dead and figuratively speaking Abraham did receive him back from the dead. I like how Vincent explains these things. He even goes back into Genesis 21 which I think is important for us to see.

He says, "Since the sacrifice did not take place as a literal slaughter, there could not be a literal resurrection from the dead. There was a real offering in Abraham's will but not a real death of Isaac. Isaac's death took place symbolically in the sacrifice of the ram. Interestingly, the resurrection was only a symbolic resurrection from the dead." So look at what the author is showing us here. Because Abraham truly saw his son Isaac as dead, even before the bloody sacrifice was made, he reasoned through the promises and plans and the character of God and he concluded that God certainly could raise Isaac back from the dead.

Because Isaac was not actually but figuratively slain and as good as dead, Abraham figuratively did receive him back from the dead. Now here we have a great lesson that we need more than we know. There are things that God calls us to put on the altar, good things, things that are not necessarily sinful in nature and when God calls us to put those things on the altar and when we do, it is not our place to take them back up again. It is God who takes them back up and gives them back to us if he so chooses. I'm going to restate that because there are some of you who need that.

There are things that God calls us to put on the altar, good things now, things that are not necessarily sinful in their nature and when God calls us to put those things on the altar and when we do, it is not our place to take them back up. It is God who takes them back up and gives them back to us if he chooses. God may call you to put a job or a career on the altar. Well if he calls you to put that job or that career on the altar, it is not for you to go back and take it back up again unless God so chooses to pick it up and give it back. God calls us to put our children, the children that he gives us are not being able to have children.

He calls us to put all those things on the altar and we are not to go pick up those things back up the altar again unless he so chooses to do so. Family relationships. God calls us to put those things on the altar and we are not to pick those family relationships back up unless he does so and gives them back to us. Now I could speak a lot about this in my personal life. There was a point in time in my ministry career where I was not serving on church staff. God called me to put my ministry position on the altar and he would not let me pick it back up again until he picked it up and he gave it back.

So I know what it is like to live this church. Of course there is a lot more I can say here. I am trusting on the spirit and the spirit to continue to speak to you here. So Abraham believed God could raise Isaac back from the grave and he did figuratively. Now as I move away from the verses I want to revisit how this one test, this one trial relates to Abraham's entire life of faith and then I want to point out how this relates to us. Because Abraham worshiped God like Abel, because he walked with God like Enoch and he obeyed God like Noah, he lived the life of faith all of the days of his life, the duration of his life.

Again, that is because Abraham knew that faith is a way to life and faith is a way to live. Now here the author gives us one awesome event in the life of Abraham and his life of faith. In this one great test we see the embodiment, the symbol of Abraham's entire life of faith. His entire life of faith was embodied or made known in this one test. His entire life of faith was and is symbolized or represented in this one test and I think you see it. And for us on our day, now speaking to born again believers now, lost people can't get this and I'm especially speaking to Grace Life Church.

If we worship God like Abel, if we walk with God like Enoch, if we obey God like Noah, then and only then can we live our entire lives living the life of faith like Abraham. Remember faith is a way to life and faith is a way to live and anything else is not the Christian life. Anything else is just not Christian. And if we do live the life of faith, we will be tested. God will bring tests and trials into our lives, sometimes those tests will be many, sometimes those trials and tests will be great.

And if and only if we embrace those tests and trials just like we see here with Abraham, can we truly live the life of faith that God has planned out for us and get this church. The tests and the trials that God brings into our lives will be the very embodiment of our own unique life of faith. The tests and trials that God has for us will make our own unique life of faith known to those around us in the church, those around us in our family, those around us in our world. And those trials and tests will come to represent and symbolize our very own and unique life of faith that God has planned out for us.

Those trials and those tests will be symbols and markers of the unique life of faith that God has preordained for us all for our good and all for His glory. So let's embrace the life of faith. And here's the hard part. Let's embrace the trials and the tests that God brings our way. It's easy for us to say, "Yes, pastor, I'll embrace the life of faith." But it's tough to embrace the trials and tests that come with it. But if we do, we will be just like our great, great grandfather in the faith, Abraham.

So the title of the message, "Faith Exemplified, Abraham's Great Sacrifice of Faith." Let's pray and commit what we have here to the Lord to be fleshed out, made real and known in all of us.