Fearfulness Is Not Faithlessness

Sermon from CCM:City Centre
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This sermon was preached by Alastair Barrie at the CCM:City Centre site of Christ Church Manchester on Sunday 10th March 2019.

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SERIES

 

This message was part of the ‘SERIES NAME’ series, preached at Christ Church Manchester’s church in Fallowfield in EARLY/MID/LATE YEAR. The full series included the following sermons:

BIBLE VERSES

This sermon was based on Genesis 22:1-19.

The Sacrifice of Isaac

1After these things God tested Abraham and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” 2He said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.” 3So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and his son Isaac. And he cut the wood for the burnt offering and arose and went to the place of which God had told him. 4On the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place from afar. 5Then Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey; I and the boy will go over there and worship and come again to you.” 6And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son. And he took in his hand the fire and the knife. So they went both of them together. 7And Isaac said to his father Abraham, “My father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” He said, “Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” 8Abraham said, “God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” So they went both of them together.

9When they came to the place of which God had told him, Abraham built the altar there and laid the wood in order and bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. 10Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to slaughter his son. 11But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” 12He said, “Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.” 13And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him was a ram, caught in a thicket by his horns. And Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son. 14So Abraham called the name of that place, “The Lord will provide”; as it is said to this day, “On the mount of the Lord it shall be provided.”

15And the angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time from heaven 16and said, “By myself I have sworn, declares the Lord, because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, 17I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of his enemies, 18and in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice.” 19So Abraham returned to his young men, and they arose and went together to Beersheba. And Abraham lived at Beersheba.

KEY POINTS

ABRAHAM WAS FEARFUL AND FAITHFUL 

  • Abraham had just received the child that God had promised him – Isaac. 
  • God speaks and asks him to sacrifice Isaac. Abraham loved Isaac and so this was an incredibly difficult thing to hear.
  • The background is that human sacrifice was part of the practice of the peoples who God brought Abraham OUT from. It doesn’t seem to make sense that God is asking him to do it now. 
  • Abraham has faith in God’s promise, and that God wouldn’t violate himself by being worshipped in this way, 
  • Abraham trusts that God knows what he is doing and will intervene.
  • We too should trust God, even if we can’t see how things will work out.
  • In Abraham, we see that faith can exist alongside worry. 
  • We also see that he didn’t just believe IN God. He actually believed God himself.

FEARFULNESS IS THE BEGINNING OF OBEDIENCE

  • Isaac was old and strong enough to overpower Abraham, or at least to run away. He could have stopped it, but he chose not to.
  • Abraham had taught Isaac about God’s character, and Isaac trusted both Abraham and the Lord. 
  • God did provide a different offering – a ram as a substitute for Isaac, and this points us to Jesus as our substitute.

    MORE SERMONS

     

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