Download... November 27, 2011. Sunday Morning Service. Bro. Dave Goble.
TEXT: GENESIS 22:1-14
1 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.
2 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.
3 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 clave the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up, and went unto the place of which God had told him.
4 Then on the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place afar off.
5 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.
6 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.
7 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?
8 And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together.
9 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.
10 And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son.
11 And the angel of the LORD called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here am I.
12 And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me.
13 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 in the stead of his son.
14 And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovahjireh: as it is said to this day, In the mount of the LORD it shall be seen.
Are you willing, to do something, you don’t want to do? Most of us are willing to do what we want. But God is more pleased, when we press past our own will, and even though if the obstacles are unpleasant and risky, ..to do His will. Though it is not desirable, even potentially very painful, yet to still always ...be willing.
Luke 22:39-40 39 And he came out, and went, as he was wont, to the mount of Olives; and his disciples also followed him. 40 And when he was at the place, he said unto them, Pray that ye enter not into temptation. 41 And he was withdrawn from them about a stone's cast, and kneeled down, and prayed, 42 Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.
Here is our example from Jesus..to desire for God to help us to be willing, whatever He would have us to do. The hardest problems are solved when one presses past the challenges, to do God’s will. You might say, [“Why me Lord?”,] it is because God is looking for a willing and broken spirit to please Him. There will always be things that we aren’t comfortable with. God is seeking willing workers. A willing worker is ready to try in spite of extreme obstacles that might present itself. We need to be ready, ..for a “breakthrough.” A breakthrough will only happen when we press forward in God’s will. We need a breakthrough, in our country, for sinners, setbacks, and etc. Children, grandchildren, granparents, parents, family all need breakthroughs spiritually to happen. Not for a goal you necessarily want to achieve ..but willing in all that’s unappealing, ...to obey God’s will.
"Do you think Abraham felt good, making his way to sacrifice his son?” Every step was difficult! The devil was busy, causing in him a human dread to eventually give back his son as a sacrifice. Do you think Jesus wanted, while in the garden, to go to the cross? Even though He knew the great pain of it, He pressed past His own will, in the midst of "not wanting” to. His prayer while in the garden, illustrates His dread humanly, but also His willingness to try.
Luke 22:42 Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done. Despite the unappealing tasks, we need even more, ...to work hardest for God. Are you willing to do what you don’t want to do? All God’s children want to live pleasing to God. They want to live this day for God, and always! In our temporal goals we often want to work hard to achieve it. In general, temporally, life has many things that are hard, but also worth pressing for. It’s not a bad thing to be happy. It’s not a bad thing to be happy with goals you pressed hard for. Spiritually that is what it will take, for a real “breakthrough.” Abraham had pressed past what life meant to him, in taking this huge step...to be willing to sacrifice his son. Any good parent would gladly give instead their own life before their children. Abraham to have his “breakthrough,” had to press well beyond that which was in his comfort zone.
Genesis 22:14-18 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.15 And the angel of the LORD called unto Abraham 16 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: 17 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 sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; 18 And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice. Because Abraham was obedient even unto a potential death, ..he was greatly blessed. It was through continuing to press outside his previous limits humanly.
Again, Luke 22:39-42 Jesus went... past... where He wanted to go. Later years, many, such as Paul, Peter, etc., also pressed willingly past their comfort zone to achieve in blessing, God’s purpose of will. And so God similarily calls all His children to press past their own wills, for His will to be achieved. We can be sure Abraham didn’t think “pick me,” as neither did Paul, Peter, etc. But, they were willing to do what they didn’t want to do. For a breakthrough from God, to be achieved in your own life, it is necessary for you also to be willing to do, what you don’t want to do. God might precisely request for you to go past all that you don’t want to do.
Genesis 22:10-12 10 And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son.
11 And the angel of the LORD called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here am I. 12 And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me. God didn’t ask anything He wasn’t willing to do Himself. God didn’t withhold His hand from His Son, and provide a substitute.....but allowed Himself to give what He didn’t want to do. In the religious world, there are some institutions that implement monks as part of "their religious structure." It has been known that they often “hurt” their own flesh, to “achieve” God’s will. But a real breakthrough can only come from a truly consecrated life. You likely will be asked to do that which you don’t want to do. It is the 'only' way for a breakthrough in your spiritual journey. It is not achieved necessairily by irritating the flesh (that’s only of our own works.) God doesn’t want you to afflict yourself because “ your’e not worthy.” God is not pleased with “that,” but that doesn’t mean that He’s not pleased with you. Conversely He is pleased with you, when you have had Christ blood applied to your heart. Instead of inflicting our soul, (for that would cast us down), the breakthrough will only come, when we go where God wants us to go, ...although against our own human will.
Exodus 4: 1,10,13,14 1 And Moses answered and said, But, behold, they will not believe me, nor hearken unto my voice: for they will say, The LORD hath not appeared unto thee. 10 And Moses said unto the LORD, O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither heretofore, nor since thou hast spoken unto thy servant: but I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue. 13 And he said, O my Lord, send, I pray thee, by the hand of him whom thou wilt send. 14 And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Moses, and he said, Is not Aaron the Levite thy brother? I know that he can speak well. And also, behold, he cometh forth to meet thee: and when he seeth thee, he will be glad in his heart.
God’s anger was kindled against Moses for his unwillingness (not that He wasn’t pleased with His choice in him) but again of the unwillingness, ..to press to a “breakthrough.” Moses was allowing his human fears ..to overcome God’s desire. Moses was essentially thinking “I’m not good enough.” God then longsuffered Moses, to allow his brother Aaron to assist as his spokeperson, to fulfill God’s will in this commandment. Nothing happens when you don’t try! In earlier years while in Egypt, Moses had killed a man in a instance of standing in judgment, of another’s unjust act. Then when Moses’ deed, was discovered, he ran from his crime, as a “wanted” man. Many years later, God asked him to go back where they sought him, for his murder. God assured him, “Those that sought your life, are now dead.” Likewise, God might ask us for something that seems too hard...but He will make a way when we are 'willing.' Moses still did not want to, but God pressed Moses to press, and when Moses then obeyed God, there was a “breakthrough.” Similarily, every day we must fight the fight, just to maintain. A breakthrough however, is going ..past ...whatever we have already achieved. Going completely past our own will.
Galatians 5:24 And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. It takes “crucifying” our flesh, ...just to maintain. A breakthrough takes ...even more. One must move beyond “maintaining.” Moving to a place that is completely against your will or comfort zone.
Ecclesiasties 9:11 I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all. People can fall into deception just as easily, with only the mere act of “self denial.” Self denial alone is not necessarily going against our will ..for God. But it is what happens to accomplish it. Sometimes you have to get off you knees, and do whatever God leads you to. God’s Will, will eventually lead you to a place that is difficult. It takes going against your will. The Lord is not angry with us to request for this breakthrough. There is a necessity,.. all around us in people’s lives, and even the midst of His people. It will not detract from people’s lives. God will need to show us, whether it means going further in a physical, emotional, or intellectual “place.” It 'will' involve tryng you, ..in your hardest “place.”
When you go to the edge of your existence, steppng past, ...when you become more “exposed,” ...it will be from a consecration. It will involve leaving “things” behind, for a real “breakthrough,” just as there was for Abraham at that altar. Otherwise your “service” will become mundane. Does it mean we will continually be seeking, to go to a place I don’t want to go? No, but there wil be those times. One might ask “Does it always result in greater numbers gained?” Actually sometimes it will result in 'fewer' numbers! Sometimes God has to “tear down,” ...before He can “build up.” Again, ...it will involve going to a place you didn’t want to go to.
We all need to “take stock”...or examine our lives. The good and pure examples are found in His Word...His Will.
