REFORMED CHURCH BELLVILLE: SUNDAY 8 MAY 2005: MORNING SERVICE

REFORMED CHURCH BELLVILLE: SUNDAY 8 MAY 2005: MORNING SERVICE

Sing before service: Psalm 4:3; Psalm 40:3; Psalm 66:6

Let us commence this meeting with God by declaring openly to one another and to God:

Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth. Beloved grace and peace be to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, through the mighty working of God the Holy Spirit.
Amen

Psalm of praise: 118:1+13
Confession of faith: Nicene Creed

We believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible.

And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all ages; God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God; begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father, by whom all things were made. Who, or us men and for our salvation, came down from heaven, and was Incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the virgin Mary, and was made man; and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate; He suffered and was buried; and the third day He rose again, according to the Scriptures; and ascended into heaven and sits on the right hand of the Father; and He shall come again, with glory, to judge the living and the dead; whose kingdom shall have no end.

And we believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and Giver of life; who proceeds from the Father and the Son; who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified, who spoke by the prophets.

And we believe one holy catholic* and apostolic Church. We acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins; and we look for the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come.
Amen

After the reading of the Law we confess our guilt and pray for forgiveness and a new life before God with Psalm 40:4.
Law
Psalm: 40:4

Prayer:

Doxology
Worship
Confession of sins
- Forgiveness
Gratitude
Prayer for the need of the congregation for the church, the authorities and the sinful world and appeal to God's promises.
General prayer
Enlightenment from the Holy Spirit for the sake of the ministry of the Word.

Scripture: Genesis 22
Text: Genesis 22:2

"Then God said: 'Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about."

Brethren and sisters, all of us who are gathered here today know of occasions when we greatly desired to have something or to do something but the Lord did not allow us to have it or do it. Or the Lord compelled us to let an opportunity go by that, in our judgment, would have been very profitable to us.

Why do such things happen?

The answer is simple - although at that moment we do not see the matter in perspective.
And with it, it usually is very difficult for us to do the right thing at that moment.

The answer is:

God created us to live to His greater glory.
It is also His right to find out whether we are willing to relinquish that which is dearest of all to us in our love for Him and to serve Him.
He does this by placing us in these situations.

Let us consider the passage we have read against this background. It is one of those passages that we know so well that its meaning passes us by.

We know that Abraham went to sacrifice his son - but what does it mean?
This narrative is about more issues than an old man aged about 115 years who goes on a long journey to kill his 15 year old son at the end of it.
It speaks of a man's love of God - a love so great that he would cut his son's throat and cut his body in pieces because God asked him to do so.
But it also speaks of a man who believed that for God everything is possible - and that God would do something as long as he obeyed God and did what He asked of him.
And it tells us that any decision we take and plan to execute counts in God's Counsel as a deed we executed.

Let us consider the issues not mentioned here but that are the issues of importance which also add to the meaning of that day.

Many years before it the Lord promised Abraham that He would raise out of him a great nation of which the number would be like the stars of the heavens.
But Abraham grew older and his wife who was about six years younger than he remained childless.

Eventually they took matters into their own hands in an attempt to realize God's promise.

Abraham has a child with Hagar - Ishmael.
But he is not the child the Lord had in mind.
Ishmael cannot receive the blessing of the covenant and carry it on.

Consider the unhappy situation in which these two people found themselves.

The Lord tells them time and again that He loves them and that they will have a child of their own.
But God also wants them to know and believe that to Him nothing is impossible and the child does not come.
That which they so dearly long for remains beyond their reach.

But when Abraham is 100 years old and Sarai is 94 God decides that the day has come.

He wants to show that His love is not tied to the norms and rules we know.
He can give where it is humanly impossible.

We do not know exactly when after this wonderful fulfilment of God's love for these two people the Lord again came to them.

This time the Lord instructs Abraham to take this son to the region of Moriah and to sacrifice him there as a burnt offering.
Put yourself in his shoes and try to grasp it.
You are Abraham and you must kill your only son/daughter, cut the body up and burn it.
Your child is to be consumed by fire and go up in smoke because God wills it.
How would you feel? And would you do this for the Lord?

Note how the Bible raises the tension around the child:

Your son
Your only son
Isaac
Whom you love

The Lord follows Abraham's thoughts.

What was the child's age?

Isaac was probably about 15 years old at the time, at least strong enough to carry the wood for the fire.
But his age is of no importance - what is important is that to Abraham it must have seemed that the Lord was going to destroy all He had promised to achieve.

We know what God wished to test Abraham's faith.

God wanted to know whether Abraham would obey Him even in the severest circumstances.
Abraham had to prove that he was willing to give whatever was required of him - if it was to the greater glory of God!

This is the answer to the question why people are placed before choices in order to do the right thing.

God tests our faith.
God tests both facets of the faith in this situation in which Abraham found himself - the knowledge and the trust.
Abraham's knowledge was being tested - he should have known that God never breaks His promises.
And his trust in God was tested - because God had on numerous occasions already proved to him that He could remedy any situation.
Also his trust that God is a God of love and order. Abraham knew that God did not favour the offering of people. He had lived among people who sacrificed people to their idols and knew that God abhorred such sacrifices.
Abraham could therefore trust in the Lord in this matter.

And let us remember that if God could test Abraham once in this way He could do so many times. And not only Abraham - us also!

Let us look at this matter from a different point of view in order to put the issue of faith clearly.

Do we doubt the Lord (doubt is the opposite of trust)?
If sin has pervaded our life to such an extent that we question all God does, then we doubt God.
Then we will rebel against God because God does not do what we think God ought to do.
And then we will become angry and refuse to remove that which stands between us and God.

Abraham and Isaac journey to the place of the sacrifice, Moriah.

Moriah is the place where according to 2 Chronicles 3:1 Solomon subsequently built the temple.
On one of the peaks of this mountain Jesus was crucified many years later.

When they neared the place Abraham left his servants behind and continued with his son.

He probably did not want them to witness the killing of the child.
That probably is also the reason why he did not tell him what was the purpose of the journey.

Isaac asks his father where the lamb is that they are to offer.

Abraham replies "God Himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering".
This reply shows the depth of Abraham's faith.
He did not say this simply to keep Isaac quiet.
He really believed that the Lord would provide for the situation.
That is why he bound Isaac, put him on the wood and prepared to kill him.
To God this decision to offer his child was as good as the deed itself.

See how this is written in Hebrews 11:17:

"By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had received the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son, …"

And in verse 19 an important point is made, namely that Abraham believed that God could raise Isaac from death after being sacrificed. (18) "even though God has said to him, "it is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned. (19) Abraham reasoned that God could raise the dead, …"

Church of the Lord, how do we react to trials of our faith?

God blessed Abraham by saving his son's life.
The solution to the issue is to be found in the offer and the sacrifice itself, for when Abraham was on the point of killing his son God stopped him.
And God did provide an offering - something else to be sacrificed instead of his son.
It was there also so that Abraham could thank God for His blessing that his son was spared and that his faith remained whole.
The ram was the offering instead of Isaac which saved his life.
But first it was necessary that his father in the trial of his faith sacrifice that which was dearest to him.
God's reaction to that was: Now I know that you fear God! Whereupon God repeated His promises to Abraham. (verses 15-18)

The same applies to us.

The cross of Jesus Christ stands on Golgotha - He had to sacrifice everything so that we who are unable to withstand any trial can be saved by Him from our penalty of death.
It is easy to say that Jesus died so that we could be saved - but we must remember that He died because we cannot and will not relinquish our sins.

Like Abraham, we now after the event, stand in the light of Christ's promises.

The promises are grace and life eternal and perfection in the hereafter.
Then we shall be on the new earth with God and be exonerated from all our sins.

May these promises move us to be like Abraham and to sacrifice everything each time we are to choose between right and wrong. We all know that the wrong then appears the more attractive, but we shall receive more because we can glorify God by resisting evil.
Amen

Closing prayer
Psalm 107:10

The Lord bless you and keep you.
The Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you.
The Lord turn His face to you and give you peace.
Amen

Dr MJ du Plessis
Reformed Church Bellville
8 May 2005
Scripture NIV