All right, good morning and welcome to our second service. On Sunday mornings we have two services, the first of which is our Bible prophecy update that we do weekly. And now second service, which is the sermon where we're going through the book of Hebrews verse by verse. And today's text will be chapter 11 and we'll begin in verse eight. And Lord, will He make it through to verse 19. So I'll ask you to turn there if you're not there already. And once you do, if you're able, I'll ask you to stand. You can follow along as I read. If not, where you're seated is fine. The writer of Hebrews, by the Holy Spirit, verse 8 writes, By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. By faith, verse 9, he made his home in the promised land, like a stranger in a foreign country. He lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, his son and grandson, who were heirs with him of the same promise. For, verse 10, he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God. And, verse 11, by faith, even Sarah, who was past childbearing age, was enabled to bear children because she considered him faithful who had made the promise. And so from this one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky, and as countless as the sand on the seashore. All these people, verse 13, were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised. They only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth. people who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had the opportunity to return. Instead, they were longing for a better country, a heavenly one, Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them. By faith, Abraham, verse 17, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice, He who had embraced the promise was about to sacrifice His one and only Son, His only begotten Son. Even though God had said to him, it is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned. Abraham reasoned that God could even raise the dead. And so in a manner of speaking, he did receive Isaac back from death. Let's pray. If you would please join with me. We'll ask God's blessing on our understanding. Lord, thank You so much for Your Word in this portion that we have here. I think like many here today, and even watching online, we've been so looking forward to this particular passage. because it deals with Abraham and how he trusted You by faith throughout his life. Lord, please, we want to learn from Abraham. We want to learn what it is that You want to teach us. We want to be teachable so we can. So Lord, would You show us, teach us, speak to us, that which You have for us. Here in Your Word today we ask, in Jesus' name, Amen and Amen. You can be seated. Thank you. So I want to talk with you today about those times in our Christian lives when it seems that God's ways make no sense whatsoever. You know what I'm talking about? If not, we can just close in prayer and just go home. In the text before us today, the writer of Hebrews will draw our attention to the faith of this man, Abraham. And not just the faith that he had in his life, but the faith he had throughout his life, even at the end of his life, when he's 100 years old. God's still testing his faith. I don't want to hear that. For those of us that have been walking with the Lord for many, many, many years, you would think, you know, oh, leave him alone. He's old already. Quit testing him. Well, I spent a considerable amount of time this last week, because again, and I know I say this every week, but I've been really looking forward to this particular passage dealing with Abraham. And so what follows are three examples of both how it is and why it is that we, like Abraham, can by faith trust God when doing so makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. And the first one is found in the verses 8 through 10, and it's obeying while not knowing. This is the account, we have it recorded for us in Genesis 12, when God calls Abraham to leave Ur of the Chaldees. And he says to Abraham, I want you to leave this country. And he doesn't tell Abraham where he's going. He just says, I want you to go. Where? I'm not telling you. Just going to have to trust me by faith. And so he does. Now it is interesting that Abraham, while he obeyed, he also delayed. And by that I mean he actually only went halfway to where God had called him to go. But he did eventually fully obey God in the end. I point that out because God still blessed and acknowledged Abraham's faith, despite the fact that he delayed. This is one of three. There's more, of course, where Abraham was tested. His faith was tested. But there's something here that I think I'd be grossly remiss were I not to point out. And it has to do with what we're told in verse nine and then what we're going to talk about in a moment. That's in verses 13 through 16. I don't know if you noticed this or not while we were reading the passage, but no less than three times we're told the writer of Hebrews is very careful by the Holy Spirit to point out this interesting detail. this detail about how they look forward to a different country, a different home. And as such, they didn't settle in the country where they resided. They were not, if you prefer, permanent residents. Why? Because this was not their final destination. Do you see where I'm going with this? I'll take it a step further and suggest that this is the why behind the what of faith. And I'll explain what I mean by that. Why would Abraham by faith go to a place he knew nothing about? We're told he obeyed and went, not knowing where he was going. God calls him believer of the Chaldees. That's faith. How is it that he's able to do that? Because he knew that he was looking forward to that which was promised yet future, that he would not yet realize this side of eternity. And that's what kept him going. That was the, if I can say it this way, the fuel in the tank of his obedience by faith, obeying not knowing. They lived as foreigners. I hate to use the word aliens because of the connotation nowadays. When my parents immigrated to America legally, they immigrated legally to America when I was nine months old, they were considered aliens. That explains a lot, doesn't it? Right? They were foreigners. They were not permanent residents or citizens of the United States of America. They had to study for five years. Man, this was 1963, 1968. For five years they studied, they prepared, and then finally they qualified and were able to apply for citizenship as permanent residents. Boy, am I so glad they did. Because had they not become US citizens and permanent residents of the United States of America, when I turned 18, I would have been sent back to Beirut, Lebanon. I don't want to go to Beirut, Lebanon right now, if you know what I mean. But because they became US citizens, permanent residents, when I turned 18, I had the option. I could automatically become a US citizen or I could go back to Beirut, Lebanon and become a citizen of Lebanon. So they settled in this land, but they didn't get too comfortable. It was only temporary. They were not permanent residents of the country they were in. Rather, they were sojourners. That's not a word we use much in our vocabulary anymore. But that's what we are in this world. We are not of this world. We're in this world, but we're just passing through. We're sojourners. We're foreigners in this world, not our home. This is not our final destination. And dare I say, and we're going to see this again in a moment, but dare I say that this is the key to faith. Meaning that you have faith when you let go of this world that has a hold on you, because you're just passing through. The tighter you hold on to this world and the things of this world, proportionate will be your unbelief, because you're too settled. Your roots are dug down too deep into the soil of this temporal world that is not our home. We are just passing through. We are foreigners in this land. They looked forward to heaven, a city whose architect and builder was God. That is how we should live our lives in this world, by faith, looking forward to that day. Soon and very soon, by the way, I believe, and I know you do too with everything that's going on in the world today. very soon, sooner I believe than any of us can possibly imagine. We look forward to that place that God is preparing for us. Jesus to His disciples said, and by the way, this is a passage of Scripture where Jesus is talking about the rapture. Did you know that? When He says to His disciples, Behold, I go to prepare a place for you. In My Father's house there are many dwelling places, many mansions. And if it were not so, I would not have told you that I go to prepare a place for you, so that where I am there you may be also.' He's talking as a bridegroom to his bride. And in that day, as was the custom, the bridegroom would come at a day and an hour that nobody expected, as a thief in the night, and abduct his bride, and take her to his father's house, where he had built a room addition as a bridal chamber, where they would consummate and celebrate their marriage for a period of seven. I'm not going to get into that. So some of you are looking at me like, oh no, you're not. No, I'm not. It's just fascinating typology though. The second one is in verses 11 through 16, and it's believing while not seeing. Now this to me is perhaps one of the most difficult tests, I believe, for Abraham up to this point. Because this is when God makes this promise to Abraham that He's going to make His descendants as numerous as the sands on the seashore and the stars in the sky. Now we've got a problem here because Sarah can't have children. We've gone to all the infertility clinics and we've done all the tests. We've tried everything and it just ain't happening. And now we're kind of getting up there in years and that ship has sailed, you might say. But wait a minute, God promised you that He was going to give you a son. Well, they grew impatient. You know the story, right? they grew impatient. And Sarah comes up with this idea that maybe they need to help God out. So she brings Haggad, the Egyptian maidservant to Abraham and says, you know, honey, I love you and I know God promised and maybe we should just do it like this. And so he does. And then they give birth to Ishmael. a work of the flesh. That's going to come in to play here in a moment. But they, and isn't it interesting that even with what Sarah did, even when she left, when the angel of the Lord appeared to Abraham and said, one year to the day, you're going to have a son. Even that, the writer of Hebrews includes Sarah's faith. May that be an encouragement to us here today? Because how many times, like Abraham, do we delay in our complete obedience? How many times, like Sarah, do we in our disbelief think it's impossible for God to do what He promised He was going to do? I mean, this is the essence of what faith is, right? We believe the promises of God, even though we don't see how it's possible for God. Okay, God, we have this promise from You that You're going to give us a son, biological son. And from this promised son, our descendants are going to be more numerous than the sands on the seashore and the stars in the sky. Lord, we better get this show on the road, because the clock is ticking. Or as we say, the biological clock is ticking. God, why are You taking so long? Oh, because I have to bring it to the place and bring You to the place where it's absolutely impossible. And then I can do it. Because see, if it's still possible for you, it's hands off to Me. Okay, Lord, I believe. Hell, my unbelief. I think of that man who said that to Jesus. Oh my goodness. That's me. It's you too. So don't look at me all spiritual, right? I believe, but hell my unbelief. Abraham and Sarah. Okay, I believe, but time starts. moving forward. And I believe it, but I just don't see. And this is that whole notion of, well, seeing is believing. Not with the Lord. Believing is seeing. Okay, I believe, but I just don't see it. Good. Yeah, but Lord, I mean, I believe You can do it, but I just don't see. I mean, Okay, I'm 90 and my husband is 100 and I just don't see how it's possible. That's why 13 years earlier we decided to get Hagar involved in this whole thing and help you out and give birth to Ishmael. And it's almost like this. It's like God saying, okay, did I promise you I was going to do it? Yeah, So does time supersede my promise to you? Does the length of time supersede? Does it have the final word on my... Oh, is my promise to you now null and void because so much time has gone by and now the situation is absolutely impossible? Is that what you're saying? Well, truth be made known. Yeah, that's kind of what I'm saying. Because, you know, This is impossible. Okay, now it's possible. Are you saying it's impossible for You? Yes, Lord, it's impossible. There's no way. The womb has long ago been barren and closed, well beyond childbearing years. So I know You promised us this and we believe, but yeah, I just don't see it. Okay, Well, watch me now, because I'm going to do it now. Why are you going to do it now? Because then you'll know it was me, because it was impossible for you. And see, when it's impossible for you, that means it's possible for me, because I'm the God of the impossible. And there's nothing impossible for me. No, there are things that are hands off to me when it's still possible for you. But I'll just wait. even if it's 100 years, I guess, for you to come to the end of yourself and throw up your hands in surrender and say, Lord, I can't do this. It's impossible. This is never going to happen. And God has you right where He wants you. Now God can do it. I believe You, Lord, but I don't see it. Jesus said, if you will but believe, you will see. You believe and you will see through the eyes of faith. So what happens? Well, you know the story. She gets pregnant and gives birth to Isaac. By the way, his name is the nature. In Hebrew it means laughter. It's the same word in Arabic. In Hebrew it's pronounced Yitzhak. In Arabic it's pronounced Yitzhak. It literally means laughter or laughing. I mean, this is laughable. This is impossible. I know, let's name him. Laughable. If I say to you in Arabic, I'm saying I'm laughing with you. I'm using the name. That's what it means. Can you imagine growing up your whole life? Laughter, present. That's your name. Literally, it means laughter, because this is laughable. This is impossible. Now we've got our son. And you would think they would live happily ever after, and his descendants would be multiplied as many as the sands on the seashore and the stars in the sky. But not so fast, because we've got another test. And it comes some 33 years later. Hang on to that. I want to come back to that. This is our third one in verses 17 through 19, and it's trusting while not understanding. This is one of those places in God's Word where one would do well to make the transition from the words on the page to the actual person. Let me explain that. I think we do err greatly when in reading God's Word we disenfranchise ourselves from the reality of what we're reading and what's happening and what's being recorded. This is why it is that I never refer to anyone in Scripture as a character, because it comes packaged with this idea of being fictitious. A character? Who's your favorite Bible character? I don't have any favorite Bible characters because they're not characters. These were real men and women like you and me. And they looked like you. Well, they probably looked more like me. Sorry, but these were real people like you and me. And I think when we're reading Scripture, it's too easy, actually, to just read the account and not really fully grasp the intensity of the situation, as it must have been like at the time. So here's now Isaac, the promised son, from whom the descendants would come. And what's God going to do? He goes to Abraham, says, Abraham, I want you to take your son now and I want you to sacrifice him. What? Wait a minute, there must be some misunderstanding here, because this is the son that you promised that you were going to multiply my descendants, and now you want me to sacrifice him. Wait a minute, what? I don't understand. Oh, I know you don't understand, but you need to trust me. Yeah, but this makes no sense. No, but you need to trust me. This really happened. And you know what's interesting? Abraham trusted God, even though he didn't understand how God was going to fulfill His promise to him, multiplying his descendants through this son, that now he was being told he had to take and sacrifice. If you'll kindly allow me to, I want for us to take the remainder of our time together today and do a deep dive of sorts into this. And in order to do that, I want to invite you to join me in Genesis chapter 22. In Genesis 22, we have this fascinating account of how this happened, and even why this happened, by the way. beginning in verse one. Now it came to pass after these things that God tested Abraham and said to him, Abraham. And he said, Here I am. Then he said, verse two, Take now your son, your only son Isaac. Stop right there. Wait a minute. Abraham has another son. His name is Ishmael. What about him? Oh, God did not recognize Ishmael. Why? Because Ishmael is a type of the flesh, Isaac a type of the Spirit. How many times have we, like them, this is what I mean by we're like them, they're just like us. Have we tried to help God in our own flesh? And the result of it is we birth an Ishmael. And look at the problems that it causes. To this day in the Middle East, look at the problems this has caused. So God doesn't even recognize the work of the flesh, no, only the work of the Spirit in the supernatural. by the power of the Holy Spirit, your only son, your only begotten son, Isaac, whom you love. Can you imagine how much he loved him? I mean, this is going to cause a lot of problems between him and his wife, you read on. And he has to send them out, Haggad and Ishmael. God still blesses them, by the way. That should be a word for somebody here today as well. But can you imagine how much he loved his son Isaac? And he says, go to the land of Moriah and offer him there as a burnt offering. Now this is an interesting detail because this is not a sin offering for salvation. This is a burnt offering for sanctification. This is a test. Abraham is being tested again, old in age, approximately 133 years old. Offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you. In other words, he didn't even tell him which mountain yet. Oh, we know which mountain it is, Mount Moriah. You can go visit there today if you want. Many of you that have been to Israel with us, we've been there. It's the actual site known today as the Temple Mount. I'm kind of getting ahead of myself because there's a lot of typology here. Because Isaac is a profound picture of Jesus Christ. This is why I keep emphasizing his age. I know growing up in Sunday school, the flannel graphs with Isaac, He's a little boy or a baby. I'm so sorry to ruin your childhood and your flannel graph and your Sunday school lessons. He was not a little child. He was 33 years old, the age that Jesus was when He went to that same mountain and was sacrificed as God's only begotten Son. Verse three, So Abraham rose early in the morning, and saddled his donkey. Interesting detail again. At first read, you read verse three, you go, okay. Wait a minute, early in the morning? I mean, I don't think he slept that night. But notice the detail recorded for us, showing his obedience yet again. He just does it. Saddled his donkey. He's not said anything to Sarah. He's certainly not at this juncture said anything to Isaac yet. And took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son. And he split the wood for the burnt offering. Isaac would have known that. And arose and went to the place of which God had told him. Then, again, you're going to see this typology. We're going to, Lord willing, talk more about this next week when we talk about Isaac. On the third day, Abraham lifted his eyes and saw the place of far off. And Abraham said to his young man, he's got two men there, stay here with the donkey. And I want you to notice something. There's two things here. The lad in the original language, that is a young man, not a baby boy. the land and I will go yonder and worship. And keyword, listen, we will come back to you. Wait a minute, Abraham, isn't that a little bit presumptuous? Because God told you that you were going to go to this mount and you're going to offer Him as a sacrifice, a burnt offering. And now you're telling your guys that you're both going to come back. I think it's only going to be you that comes back. No, no, no. Because see, I have a promise. I have a promise from God that He is going to multiply my descendants through Isaac. I don't know how He's going to do it, I just know that he's going to do it. I don't know the way he's going to do it. I just know that he's going to do it. I don't know when he's going to do it. I just know that he's going to do it. We will be back. And as we just read in Hebrews, he considered, he concluded, better said. Okay. I got this promise that God's going to multiply my descendants. Now I'm being told and tested to take him and sacrifice him as a burnt offering. And oh, I know God's going to raise him from the dead, because God can do that. Because God already did that. He already raised him from a dead womb. Yeah, that's impossible. Well, God's already done the impossible. So is there anything too hard for the Lord? we'll be back. So Abraham took the wood, verse six, of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son. And he took the fire in his hand and a knife, and the two of them went together. But Isaac, verse seven, spoke to Abraham his father and said, My father. And he said, Here I am, my son. And he said, look, the fire and the wood, but where's the lamb for a burnt offering? And Abraham said, verse 8, my son, and I want you to listen very carefully to this, God will provide for himself, better translated, God Himself will provide Himself as the lamb for the sacrifice. That is a prophecy pointing to the Lamb of God, the person of Jesus Christ. God will become a man. God Himself will be the sacrifice. So the two of them went together. Now, when you understand that Isaac is a young man age 33. And after his father tells him that, and he still willingly goes, knowing that God is going to provide the sacrifice. Then, verse nine, they came to the place of which God had told them. And Abraham built an altar there and placed the wood in order. And he bound Isaac, his son, a 33 year old man, and laid him on the altar upon the wood. And Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. But the angel of the LORD, verse 11, called to him from heaven and said, Abraham, Abraham. So he said, Here I am. And he said, Do not lay your hand on the lad or do anything to him For now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only begotten Son, from Me.' Then Abraham lifted his eyes and looked, verse 13, and there behind him was a ram caught in a thicket by its horns. So Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up for a burnt offering instead of his son. Question, You mean God didn't know that Abraham was going to do that? I mean, when I read verse 12 and it says, now I know that you fear Me, and since you have not withheld your son. Really? We have to go through all that for you to know that I was going to be obedient and trust you, even though I didn't understand what you were doing or the way you were going to do it. Or I just believed by faith that you were going to do it. And it took all of this for you to know. I thought you were all knowing God. What happened? I know I'm being very silly in the way I'm illustrating this, but you'll see why here in a moment. No, it's not so that God would know. It's so that Abraham would know what God already knew. Now stay with me. When God puts us to the test, He wants us to see ourselves as He sees us. He wants us to know what He already knows. Now, how is He going to do that? He has to do something like this. Well, isn't this a little bit extreme? Well, here's what I'm thinking. Abraham has some history with God now, right? Lever of the Chaldees to a place that I'm going to take you. You don't know where you're going to go. He goes, God blesses him, prospers him. Okay, number one. Number two, I'm going to give you a son, a biological son from whom all your descendants will come. and God does it. These are all unthinkable impossibilities, by the way. That was number two. Now number three. Okay, now I want you to take this promised son and I want you to sacrifice him. What's Abraham going to do? God knows what Abraham is going to do. Abraham does not yet know what he himself is going to do. And then can you imagine He was fully at the ready to plunge that knife into his son, whom he loved, believing by faith that God, he knows God can, raise him from the dead. Another miracle. Hey, you don't understand something about me, Abraham would say. I've been on the receiving end of miracles from the mighty hand of God. I have tasted from that cup and I have seen what God is able to do. There's nothing that God cannot do. I've already been the recipient of that. This is my son. There was no way that he would be born. And look at him. And now God's saying, I want you to sacrifice him as a burnt offering. Hey, if God could do it once, He can do it again. was a resurrection of sorts from Sarah's womb. It just says there was a resurrection of sorts on this altar that day. When you've gone through those times of testing and trial, where I mean, it's like, Lord, I believe You, but I mean, This is going to be good. It's going to have to be good because there's no way, no way. God's like, way? Yeah, but Lord, how? You'll see. Yeah, but Lord, this makes no sense at all. I know. Lord, how are you going to do this? I mean, I know you can. It's not can you, it's how are you going to do this? Yeah, you'll see. And when you see what I'm going to do, you are going to be ruined for me for the rest of your life, because you've been the recipient of something like this. Did you imagine the spring in his step as they're walking back to the servants? Told you he'd be back. That's faith. That's faith. I want to close with a personal testimony of my own concerning this account here, which is pretty close to my heart. My wife and I, as I've shared with you, were one of those couples that they diagnosed as having unexplained infertility, which basically meant that they could not explain your infertility. Very, you know, medical term. And we tried, couldn't have children. We would get pregnant, lose the baby. And one baby we lost in the second trimester through a miscarriage. We even tried adopting a girl. We were there for the birth. My wife videotaped it. We even named her. Birth mother was 15 years old, had come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ two weeks prior to us meeting her for the first time when she had met us to place in an open adoption her daughter. Daughter was born and then this is June 1st of 1997. And asked if she could take the baby home before she placed her with us. And we kind of saw the proverbial handwriting on the wall. We released her from the adoption. She ended up keeping the baby. At that time, I went before the Lord and cried out to the Lord. And the Lord gave me a word. It wasn't audible, but it was, it didn't have to be. But the word was, like with Abraham and Sarah, I'm going to give you a son one year to the day. Okay, Lord. All right. And then he said, I want you to go tell Sarah, I mean your wife. And I did. And so What's really interesting is that on August 14th of 1994, this is prior, my dad died suddenly of a heart attack. Nine months later, my mom on May 22nd of 1995 died in my arms actually. And before she died, I prayed and I made a vow to the Lord, saying that if you take my mom, I no longer have parents, nor am I a parent. I said, if you take my mom, give me a son. It's one of those prayers where afterwards you have to like apologize for it. What is this? Let's make a deal with God. I'll trade you my mom for a son. That was May 22, 1995. Well, fast forward back to 1997, June 1st, when she was born. The birth mother keeps the baby. That fall, we find out that we're pregnant again. And you know how the doctors will try to estimate the time of conception and the approximate due date after the nine months of gestation. So well, it would seem that your due date is going to be on or around May 22nd, which was the date that my mom died. Which if you do the math, nine months earlier would have made it about August 14th, the day that my dad died. It was like the Lord saying to me, I heard that prayer and I heard that vow Because I told the Lord, if You give me a son, I will sell my business and I will serve You all the days of my life. Well, we get pregnant. May 22nd comes and he was post-due. So we go in, you know, that firstborn, always stubborn, the firstborns, yeah. So his birth date, he was born on June 2nd, 1998, exactly one year to the day that God told me that He would give me a son. I sold my business. I started and planted my first church in North Idaho that following year. left there, came here. As they say, the rest is history. And I've never looked back. I have tasted from this cup and I can testify to you. God can do anything. God can do anything. Maybe you have a wayward son or a prodigal son or a wayward daughter. Is there anything too hard for the Lord? a barren womb. Is there anything too hard for the Lord? God can do the impossible. Just believe. If you'll just believe, you'll see. You'll see. God is able. He's the God of the impossible. Why don't you stand? We'll have the worship team come up and we'll pray. Yeah. Loving Heavenly Father, Thank You so much for the example of Abraham and Sarah, the birth of Isaac. And Lord, I thank You for Your Word. And I thank You, God, for including this in Scripture, so that all these generations later we could be here in this, Your church, and be edified and built up because of it. Lord, this is Your Word to us. You have given us Your Word. You cannot go back on Your Word. We have this promise from You. We don't know how you're going to do it, when you're going to do it, the way you're going to do it. We just know by faith that you're going to do it, because you said you would. Lord, I pray for anyone that's discouraged and Maybe that discouragement is giving way to despair, whatever their situation is, their Isaac situation is. Lord, I pray that You'll reveal Yourself afresh and anew in their lives, and strengthen them, and encourage them, building them up in the faith. Lord, thank You, in Jesus' name, Amen.