WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:06.459 Good morning everyone. So I guess where have you been tested this week? 00:00:07.379 --> 00:00:14.179 This is the question. And what happens when God makes some big asks of us? 00:00:15.320 --> 00:00:23.260 Do you trust? This is the question, especially when trust is tested. Trust, slide one, 00:00:23.260 --> 00:00:29.760 trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. It says, 00:00:30.780 --> 00:00:39.480 we know the verse, we know the reading, but do we trust? Do we trust in God or do we rather tend to 00:00:39.480 --> 00:00:47.280 lean more often on our own understanding? Abraham, who has this foundational relationship with God, 00:00:47.280 --> 00:00:54.859 a very, very close relationship with him, has to face a test. He faces a test of his trust, 00:00:55.320 --> 00:01:04.859 loyalty, something here so far we think has been Abraham's strong point, but maybe it wasn't, 00:01:04.980 --> 00:01:11.960 as we will find out, because we will come to his doubts and failings in a minute. But this test of 00:01:11.959 --> 00:01:18.719 trust in our reading this morning goes far beyond any of us could imagine. It seems so countercultural 00:01:18.719 --> 00:01:24.899 as to where we are. I mean, you know, did God not do a safeguarding course? You know, where was the DBS? 00:01:25.579 --> 00:01:34.119 And you know, he's asking this of his son. It is the big ask. This is the son that was long awaited for, 00:01:34.119 --> 00:01:40.560 if you remember. This is the son that was promised. This is the son that didn't come for so long. 00:01:40.560 --> 00:01:50.100 And yet God is asking this of them. Sarah and Abraham had waited so long, so much, much later in life. 00:01:51.060 --> 00:02:00.400 So why is God asking for this sacrifice? Why is God pushing Abraham to this point of his long-standing 00:02:00.400 --> 00:02:09.040 and faithful servant? Sacrifice your son? Place on the altar the most precious thing you have, 00:02:09.340 --> 00:02:16.200 and give me an offering. I confess that I was reading this again and again, and I kept going 00:02:16.200 --> 00:02:24.219 back to the commentary that's there in the Hebrew. Now, don't get the misapprehension that I am in any 00:02:24.219 --> 00:02:32.979 way, a Hebrew scholar. You know, I know my place. But commentaries are great. And in the commentary, 00:02:33.159 --> 00:02:41.759 it said, in here, if there is another way of translating verse two, there isn't. The text is 00:02:41.759 --> 00:02:47.900 surprisingly unambiguous. It says, take your son, the only son whom you love, that is Isaac, 00:02:47.900 --> 00:02:55.580 and go. And it says, lek, lekha to the land, offer him up. I don't know which is worse here, 00:02:55.920 --> 00:03:03.060 that God tells Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac, or that Isaac, or that Abraham complies. 00:03:03.960 --> 00:03:09.840 I don't know what your tussle with God is like, where you actually have this interaction with God 00:03:09.840 --> 00:03:15.460 to say, are you really asking this of me? How far do you want me to go with this, Lord? 00:03:15.460 --> 00:03:23.180 This is the ultimate test. Compounding the ethical problem is the practical one. Isaac is the long 00:03:23.180 --> 00:03:30.180 awaited child for the promise. He is the succession. What is God asking of this? Is he asking to end the 00:03:30.180 --> 00:03:37.560 succession? What is he asking? There must have been such a turmoil going on with Abraham in this 00:03:37.560 --> 00:03:45.439 conversation with God. Maybe you have experienced that the same as I have at times. Lord, what is this 00:03:45.439 --> 00:03:54.539 all about? What are you asking of me? What does this mean? And the final hope here, these thousand 00:03:54.539 --> 00:03:59.919 thoughts must have been going through Abraham's mind. And here it is, the final hope that Abraham and 00:03:59.919 --> 00:04:08.240 Sarah have for this great name in their son Isaac is about to be taken away from them at God's command. 00:04:08.240 --> 00:04:16.939 And as readers, we were relieved when Sarah gives birth to Isaac and God confirms that his promises 00:04:16.939 --> 00:04:26.400 are true. Yet Abraham's trust in God is complemented but complicated by his wavering faith. 00:04:27.639 --> 00:04:33.660 Now, I don't know whether that's your experience as well of wavering faith. I often say that faith is 00:04:33.660 --> 00:04:40.300 sometimes a bit like a roller coaster. You know, we have the mountaintop experiences and then suddenly 00:04:40.300 --> 00:04:46.980 we have these dips. Does anybody feel like that with me? For those listening on the podcast, people are 00:04:46.980 --> 00:04:57.920 nodding their heads. And let's not walk away with the impression that Abraham was the pillar of faith 00:04:57.920 --> 00:05:05.720 and obedience and obedience and trust. Abraham is human, just like us. It's just that he had an 00:05:05.720 --> 00:05:12.939 important job to do and God wanted to make sure he was there to do it. Trust in God is not always 00:05:12.939 --> 00:05:20.280 at the foremost point of Abraham's life. And if you read through, Abraham has responded to God in several 00:05:20.280 --> 00:05:26.580 places without hesitation, packing up and going to the land that God would give him. Yet at other times, 00:05:26.579 --> 00:05:34.659 Abraham acts in ways that suggest doubt, like many of us. You know, twice out of fear, he passes off 00:05:34.659 --> 00:05:42.360 his wife as his sister and Sarah ends up in the bedroom with a local ruler. Shock horror. And shock 00:05:42.360 --> 00:05:48.500 horror is so worried about producing an error, Abraham then sleeps with a woman other than his wife, albeit 00:05:48.500 --> 00:05:55.500 at Sarah's bidding. On top of this, he even laughs at God when actually God promises that his wife in later 00:05:55.500 --> 00:06:02.379 years would actually give birth. He actually doesn't even believe God in his promises. Throughout, there are 00:06:02.379 --> 00:06:11.759 indications that Abraham still doesn't quite trust God to accomplish that which he has asked him to do. 00:06:14.000 --> 00:06:23.740 And so maybe in the context of this, we understand the ultimate test today. Do you trust me? 00:06:23.740 --> 00:06:30.699 Do you ever hear that? Do you trust me? 00:06:32.460 --> 00:06:36.340 Maybe God's saying that to you in something that you're dealing with at the moment. 00:06:36.879 --> 00:06:39.980 Do you trust me with this? 00:06:41.900 --> 00:06:47.980 You know, God has signaled to us that God had no intention of going through with this. 00:06:47.980 --> 00:06:54.500 You know, that is the grace of God. There is no intention, but there is a point that comes to God 00:06:54.500 --> 00:07:04.319 says, so will you do this for me? The messenger of the Lord stays Abraham's hand, preventing him from 00:07:04.319 --> 00:07:12.700 killing his son. God wanted Abraham to face his own conflicted and divided loyalties. 00:07:12.699 --> 00:07:18.620 Does that resonate with you sometimes? Does that resonate with you sometimes in the culture in which we live? 00:07:19.719 --> 00:07:24.439 What is our conflicted and divided loyalties in life? 00:07:25.879 --> 00:07:35.779 And it worked. The test serves its purpose in that it strengthens Abraham's trust and relationship 00:07:35.779 --> 00:07:44.799 with God because God will provide. God provides. God provides. God provides the way out. Generously, 00:07:45.359 --> 00:07:54.099 bountifully, wondrously provides. Maybe at that point, Abraham realised that God has been there all along, 00:07:54.899 --> 00:08:02.179 guiding his steps, directing his path and making a future for him. Maybe that has been your experience 00:08:02.180 --> 00:08:09.500 as well when you have tested and been in a testing time that you look back and reflect and say, 00:08:09.900 --> 00:08:17.259 actually, I saw that God was there. Didn't seem like it at the time. In fact, I was screaming out and we 00:08:17.259 --> 00:08:26.819 were having a real conversation, a real conversation, but I knew that God was there. It's all about trust. 00:08:26.819 --> 00:08:33.559 And in that relationship, in that experience, God not only experiences, but it works the other way 00:08:33.559 --> 00:08:42.860 because God knows that Abraham now has respect or, and in some ways for many of us, a healthy dose of fear. 00:08:44.220 --> 00:08:51.679 God is God and we are not. God is our best interests at heart, appropriate to a divine human relationship. 00:08:51.679 --> 00:09:00.559 Sometimes changes between Abraham and God that day has made a difference. Abraham learns to totally 00:09:00.559 --> 00:09:08.799 trust in God and God proves that he can be trusted. Have you had an experience like that in your life? 00:09:10.299 --> 00:09:20.259 Many of us have. So what can we take from this today? Slide two. In the Hebrew, 00:09:20.259 --> 00:09:26.860 God is often referred to by the name. We're talking about the names of God and he's taught, used by the name 00:09:26.860 --> 00:09:37.340 in the Hebrew as emet. And emet is translated into our language with words like faithful, reliable, sure, 00:09:38.200 --> 00:09:48.740 trustworthy, and amen. Is that your experience of God? I pray that it is because that is God. 00:09:48.740 --> 00:09:56.180 Reliable, sure, trustworthy, and amen. God is emet. Next slide, please. 00:09:57.299 --> 00:10:04.759 And here, the shocking test of this relationship is that God has asked Abraham to make the sacrifice. 00:10:05.120 --> 00:10:13.879 And although God clearly had no intention of allowing this to happen, Abraham is about to be tested and to 00:10:13.879 --> 00:10:23.820 show that trust. And it comes that close. Sometimes we have to get to that point to know that God is God 00:10:23.820 --> 00:10:33.539 and that God is with us. Next slide, please. Yet our God is compassionate and God provides the escape, 00:10:33.659 --> 00:10:38.759 the sacrifice, if you like. Do not lay a hand on the boy. Do not do anything to him, 00:10:38.759 --> 00:10:47.939 for I know that you fear God. You see, and they're presumably out of the blue, yet provided by God is the ram or lamb, 00:10:48.059 --> 00:10:54.700 depending on which version you read from. And the required sacrifice was made, a substitution. 00:10:55.379 --> 00:11:00.000 Now, if you've been a Christian for some time, you may know where this is going. 00:11:00.000 --> 00:11:10.320 Next slide. Because it is about the cross. Because God, for those of us who know Christianity, 00:11:10.559 --> 00:11:16.320 and you will find out even if you are new to Christianity, even if you are new in deepening 00:11:16.320 --> 00:11:24.480 that relationship that you have with Jesus, you will know what this sacrifice actually means in your life, 00:11:24.480 --> 00:11:31.440 because it's about the cross. For while Abraham's son is spared, God would know the cost himself 00:11:31.440 --> 00:11:39.659 through his own son Jesus. He would know the cost because he was prepared the pain, the anguish, 00:11:39.980 --> 00:11:46.180 that he would make the substitution. For God so loved the world that he gave his only son, 00:11:46.500 --> 00:11:53.379 that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life. God takes the cost, 00:11:53.379 --> 00:12:03.360 and Jesus is sacrificed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray. We have turned each, every one of us 00:12:03.360 --> 00:12:12.419 to his own way, and God has laid on him the iniquity of us all. The prophecy in Isaiah 53. This prophecy, 00:12:12.580 --> 00:12:20.299 long before the cross, Isaiah is telling us, yet God and Jesus went through it. Because Christ died, 00:12:20.299 --> 00:12:28.979 our relationship with God has forever been changed. That was the changing moment. The cross is the 00:12:28.979 --> 00:12:41.859 changing moment. God went through with it for us, for you, for me, for every one of us. The lamb that was 00:12:41.859 --> 00:12:48.959 slain, Jesus, the lamb of God. We use the term, the lamb of God. God provides. 00:12:48.960 --> 00:12:59.120 God provides. What more could God do? What more does he want to do in showing his love and his 00:12:59.120 --> 00:13:07.780 promise for us? Emmett, the God who is faithful, reliable, sure, and trustworthy in all things. This 00:13:07.780 --> 00:13:16.100 story invites us then to a posture not only of relationship, but a posture of healthy recognition, 00:13:16.100 --> 00:13:25.580 and dare I say it, holy understanding of what God did for us and does for us day by day. Faithful to 00:13:25.580 --> 00:13:31.759 his covenant promises and the redemption we have through him, the God who provides. The son died, 00:13:32.080 --> 00:13:39.720 yet as he promised, gloriously beats death, rises again. The sacrifice was made. Jesus rises from the 00:13:39.720 --> 00:13:48.879 dead and reigns victorious. We have been set free. That is the cost. That was the sacrifice for us. 00:13:52.879 --> 00:13:59.879 Free to worship, free to serve. We've shared in communion, everything about communion today is about 00:13:59.879 --> 00:14:06.080 if whatever term you use for this, whether it's an altar or a table, that is what we remember as we 00:14:06.080 --> 00:14:12.160 have come this morning. Everything that Jesus and God has done for us and in us and through us to 00:14:12.160 --> 00:14:19.800 actually permit this for me, to go through it for me. The next slide, please. And in the light of this 00:14:19.800 --> 00:14:28.440 proof, his love for you and me, in view of this amazing faithful Emmett, the Lord, I need to ask us this 00:14:28.440 --> 00:14:35.920 if God to ask us this morning, if God is prepared to give it all, what are we withholding from God? 00:14:38.500 --> 00:14:47.180 What do we actually withhold? What don't we place at the foremost of our life for him? 00:14:49.120 --> 00:14:52.940 In the light of his great love. Next slide, please. 00:14:52.940 --> 00:15:01.420 You see, if you trust him, what would you withhold? Because he's not withholding anything from us. 00:15:02.480 --> 00:15:07.320 After all, we sing hymns and songs about it all, don't we? We're all very happy to sing the songs, 00:15:07.960 --> 00:15:14.520 all for Jesus, I surrender, all to him I gladly give. And then maybe there should be a paraphrase 00:15:14.519 --> 00:15:27.159 where we say accept. Yeah? Because there will always be, maybe, the accept that's in the back of our mind. 00:15:28.120 --> 00:15:34.939 Next one, please. You see, as we sing and we often say to match our actions, you know, in Christians, 00:15:35.600 --> 00:15:44.100 maybe in this teaching today, knowing that God provides, what would you withhold if he asked of you? 00:15:44.519 --> 00:15:51.819 Bill Hybels once said, you know, Bill Hybels talked about ministry and about the big asks. 00:15:53.240 --> 00:16:02.059 So what would be, where would your line be? Would it be your house? You know, if the Lord asked you, 00:16:02.159 --> 00:16:06.960 you know, need you to sell your house and move on. Big ask. 00:16:06.960 --> 00:16:16.620 Maybe it would be your second house, maybe, or your caravan or your camper van. What's the big ask? 00:16:17.620 --> 00:16:26.080 Maybe your car, cherished and loved. You know, it's stuff, but what is God asking of you? 00:16:26.080 --> 00:16:35.480 Maybe your jewelry, lounging in a drawer for your, to hand on to your relatives who don't really want it. 00:16:35.940 --> 00:16:37.460 But, you know? 00:16:41.460 --> 00:16:44.220 And then it gets personal. It says, what about your children? 00:16:46.480 --> 00:16:46.800 You know? 00:16:47.520 --> 00:16:50.820 There is something that says about you've come to church with your children. 00:16:50.820 --> 00:16:56.920 The majority, statistically, it says, if a father and a family come to church with their children, 00:16:57.060 --> 00:16:58.260 they will stay the course. 00:16:59.700 --> 00:17:01.640 Something about coming as a family. 00:17:02.600 --> 00:17:07.160 Something about coming together, about bringing your children, coming as one, 00:17:07.600 --> 00:17:09.000 is an important part. 00:17:09.460 --> 00:17:10.980 What are you prepared to do? 00:17:12.160 --> 00:17:15.980 And then, of course, then there's, we talk about income. 00:17:15.980 --> 00:17:17.380 You know? 00:17:17.779 --> 00:17:20.160 Then, percentage, what would you get? 00:17:20.240 --> 00:17:21.420 What do you want to lay on there? 00:17:21.519 --> 00:17:23.620 What is, what is mine and what is yours, Lord? 00:17:23.680 --> 00:17:27.000 Because I'm saying it's all yours, but what am I actually withholding? 00:17:27.819 --> 00:17:32.559 And then, and then it says, your time. 00:17:33.319 --> 00:17:36.660 Now, here's the really precious one, isn't it? 00:17:36.799 --> 00:17:39.319 The Lord says, actually, I want some of your time here. 00:17:39.839 --> 00:17:40.700 I want this. 00:17:40.700 --> 00:17:47.860 Where do we divide that up and say, when he asks of us to do something, where is our time? 00:17:48.240 --> 00:17:50.779 You know, Bill Hybels really spoke deeply on this. 00:17:51.100 --> 00:17:53.220 We make big asks of God, don't we? 00:17:53.420 --> 00:17:55.640 And we do make big asks of him, don't we? 00:17:55.799 --> 00:18:00.380 It's, you know, maybe your prayer looks, you know, Lord, give us world peace. 00:18:00.580 --> 00:18:02.819 Lord, heal for my loved one. 00:18:03.180 --> 00:18:04.880 The list is long. 00:18:05.759 --> 00:18:08.720 Yet, what happens when God makes the big ask of us? 00:18:08.720 --> 00:18:11.100 As we've heard this morning. 00:18:11.680 --> 00:18:13.319 What happens when that's reversed? 00:18:14.880 --> 00:18:21.839 You know, in our time maybe, you know, I want you to, I think time is the big thing, personally. 00:18:23.160 --> 00:18:31.519 What if God is actually prompting you at the moment and saying, actually, I want you to give up your pub night or your craft evening to help on an offer course? 00:18:31.519 --> 00:18:33.879 What happens? 00:18:33.879 --> 00:18:33.960 What happens? 00:18:34.379 --> 00:18:39.740 I want you to give up your Sunday lie-in or a Monday evening to help lead youth and children's work. 00:18:40.400 --> 00:18:42.200 I want that slice of your time. 00:18:43.740 --> 00:18:52.000 I want you to get up 20 minutes earlier on a Sunday morning or during the week and give somebody a lift to church in the transport team. 00:18:52.000 --> 00:19:00.859 You know, sometimes there is a cost to the ask. 00:19:01.559 --> 00:19:06.660 I can think of loads of things that the Lord asks of me and has asked of me to place on that altar for him. 00:19:06.700 --> 00:19:10.539 We place bread and wine on the table to remind us of that sacrifice. 00:19:11.220 --> 00:19:13.960 And here this morning there is Abraham, Abraham. 00:19:14.539 --> 00:19:15.240 Yes, Lord? 00:19:15.240 --> 00:19:18.460 What do you want of me? 00:19:19.240 --> 00:19:20.740 Music team, do you want to come back out? 00:19:22.000 --> 00:19:24.099 Do not lay a hand on the boy, he said. 00:19:24.859 --> 00:19:26.799 Do not do anything to him. 00:19:28.059 --> 00:19:38.960 Now I know that you fear God because you have not withheld from me your son, your own very dear son. 00:19:43.099 --> 00:19:43.779 Let's go. 00:19:43.779 --> 00:19:49.180 I'm going to end with a really personal story which reflected this in my life. 00:19:49.319 --> 00:19:53.559 And I think sometimes as we all know, this is where the rubber hits the road. 00:19:54.200 --> 00:20:04.680 We have scripture, we hear the story, but when it hits in our own lives and we realise the big asks that God sometimes asks of us in testing. 00:20:04.680 --> 00:20:10.620 I think it was about five, six years ago. 00:20:10.619 --> 00:20:26.439 And I felt extremely flattered that a rather large and very prominent church in Bristol had asked me to join them as an associate minister. 00:20:26.440 --> 00:20:31.080 I went along and had a look at this. 00:20:31.080 --> 00:20:32.259 It was very flattering. 00:20:32.400 --> 00:20:34.880 I felt my ego was being well and truly stroked. 00:20:34.880 --> 00:20:39.440 But coming back to God and saying, so what are you asking? 00:20:39.440 --> 00:20:46.519 And the last thing, to be honest, at the time I didn't want to leave you. 00:20:47.900 --> 00:20:51.240 I said to God, it's not real, it doesn't feel, I love these people. 00:20:51.759 --> 00:20:53.880 I still love you greatly. 00:20:54.279 --> 00:20:56.460 And all of you listening on the podcast as well. 00:20:56.460 --> 00:21:01.819 But I knew that I had to go and test it. 00:21:03.100 --> 00:21:05.340 And we went and we tested it. 00:21:05.500 --> 00:21:08.240 It wasn't, it didn't feel, it didn't. 00:21:08.460 --> 00:21:10.840 But why, Lord, why are you asking this of me? 00:21:11.019 --> 00:21:12.720 Why are you asking it this time? 00:21:13.200 --> 00:21:19.200 And a very, very wise, wise, retired bishop who you might know. 00:21:19.200 --> 00:21:29.080 He said to me, the thing is, Clive, is watch your prayer every day. 00:21:29.920 --> 00:21:34.140 My prayer is to say, Lord, if you want me to go, I'll go. 00:21:35.100 --> 00:21:38.400 He said, I think you just wanted to really know that that was right. 00:21:39.360 --> 00:21:41.539 That you would do what I was going to ask you. 00:21:42.100 --> 00:21:43.400 Not asking that of you. 00:21:44.220 --> 00:21:48.580 But I just wanted to know that we were authentic in our relationship. 00:21:49.200 --> 00:21:55.160 That actually, if you were authentic, if you do say you're going to do it, that you would do it. 00:21:59.500 --> 00:22:05.840 I was just, I sensed that God wanted to know that you're obedient. 00:22:06.720 --> 00:22:08.400 And that you trust in me. 00:22:11.059 --> 00:22:12.960 Is that our experience this morning? 00:22:13.279 --> 00:22:15.019 Of trusting in God and being obedient? 00:22:16.019 --> 00:22:17.519 I pray that it is. 00:22:19.200 --> 00:22:26.720 So should we just pray together and ask the Holy Spirit to speak to us through this scripture this morning? 00:22:28.000 --> 00:22:30.019 We're talking about the names of God. 00:22:31.700 --> 00:22:33.299 Is God for you, Emmett? 00:22:33.680 --> 00:22:34.600 Is he trustworthy? 00:22:35.400 --> 00:22:36.440 Do you trust him? 00:22:37.660 --> 00:22:39.960 Do you trust him with every part of your life? 00:22:39.960 --> 00:22:46.880 Holy Spirit, would you come? 00:22:48.480 --> 00:22:52.220 Lord, King of Kings, Saviour, Emmett, you are faithful. 00:22:52.480 --> 00:22:53.440 You are reliable. 00:22:53.920 --> 00:22:54.860 You are sure. 00:22:55.200 --> 00:22:56.180 You are trustworthy. 00:22:56.579 --> 00:22:57.819 You are a man. 00:22:58.240 --> 00:23:01.880 Come now, we pray, in the power of your Holy Spirit. 00:23:01.880 --> 00:23:03.200 Amen. 00:23:03.200 --> 00:23:06.180 And grow faith in us and trust in you. 00:23:10.580 --> 00:23:13.980 Lord, and to the point of responding to your promptings, 00:23:14.380 --> 00:23:17.680 knowing that the plans you have for us in that calling, 00:23:18.040 --> 00:23:20.020 in your asks of us, is good. 00:23:20.019 --> 00:23:26.220 And that you will be there for us in the joys and the challenges in doing life with you. 00:23:29.500 --> 00:23:29.980 Amen. 00:23:29.980 --> 00:23:30.079 Amen. 00:23:30.079 --> 00:23:30.119 Amen. 00:23:30.119 --> 00:23:30.160 Amen. 00:23:30.160 --> 00:23:30.180 Amen. 00:23:30.180 --> 00:23:30.200 Amen. 00:23:30.200 --> 00:23:30.240 Amen. 00:23:30.240 --> 00:23:30.279 Amen. 00:23:30.279 --> 00:23:32.200 Amen. 00:23:32.200 --> 00:23:34.200 Amen. 00:23:34.200 --> 00:23:34.240 Amen. 00:23:34.240 --> 00:23:34.279 Amen.