Where Your Heart Is
Scripture Reading: Genesis 22:1-18
1 Now it came to pass after these things that God tested Abraham, and said to him,
“Abraham!”
And he said, “Here I am.”
2 Then He said, “Take now 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.”
3 So Abraham rose early in the morning and saddled his donkey, and took two of his young
men with him, and Isaac his son; and he split the wood for the burnt offering, and arose and
went to the place of which God had told him. 4 Then on the third day Abraham lifted his eyes
and saw the place afar off. 5 And Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the
donkey; the lad and I will go yonder and worship, and we will come back to you.”
6 So Abraham took the wood 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. 7 But Isaac spoke to
Abraham his father and said, “My father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.”
Then he said, “Look, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?”
8 And Abraham said, “My son, God will provide for Himself the lamb for a burnt offering.” So
the two of them went together.
9 Then they came to the place of which God had told him. And Abraham built an altar there
and placed the wood in order; and he bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar, upon the
wood. 10 And Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son.
11 But the Angel of the LORD called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!”
So he said, “Here I am.”
12 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 son, from Me.”
13 Then Abraham lifted his eyes and looked, 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. 14 And Abraham called the name of the place, The-LORD-Will-Provide; as
it is said to this day, “In the Mount of the LORD it shall be provided.”
15 Then the Angel of the LORD called to Abraham a second time out of heaven, 16 and said:
“By Myself I have sworn, says the LORD, because you have done this thing, and have not
withheld your son, your only son— 17 blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply
your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore; and
your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies. 18 In your seed all the nations of
the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.”
Last week we took a look at one of the many facets of God. The LORD our
righteousness; Yahweh Tsidkenu or Jehovah Tsidkenu. This week and for the next
few weeks, we’ll be looking some other characteristics of our God. Our scripture
reading begins with Yahweh calling Abraham. We spoke last week about Abraham
being called righteous because of his faith. Now, we will see that faith walked out in
a way many would have difficulty accomplishing.
Abraham, a man that remained completely childless until age 86 when Hagar bore
him Ishmael, is told by God to sacrifice his only son Isaac. Wait a minute! I just
said that Ishmael was born when he was 86. But you know what? It seems quite
obvious that Abraham saw Ishmael as less than his son. He saw him as the son of
his slave. He ends up sending him off into the wilderness with his mother. I think
this is why it is so important to be married before you start doing the things it takes
to have children. Somehow things are very different when there’s marriage
involved and when there isn’t. It seems sad for the children because they really
don’t have any say in what their parent’s marital status was but that goes back to
what we’ve been talking about with the consequences of sin radiating far beyond
those who sin.
So, Abraham is called to sacrifice his only son; the only one he truly considers as
his son, the one he loves. And this is the part that always gets me. It doesn’t say
that he questioned God even once. It doesn’t show him asking God why. In fact, it
says he woke up early in the morning, got everything ready, and went to do what
God had told him to do. You know, say they have faith but Abraham’s actions here
are really showing it. So, the LORD reveals which mountain, Abraham leaves his
servants, takes the wood and the fire and his son and they started heading up to
the mountain to make the sacrifice.
Now, there’s a lot of speculation as to how old Isaac was at this time but one thing
seems clear as you analyze the information; he was not a little boy. It was his job to
carry the wood for the sacrifice so he would have needed to be at least a teenager
to be strong enough to do that. He does question his father wondering where the
sacrifice is, not realizing that he is the sacrifice. His father tells him that the LORD
will provide. You see Abraham’s faith through this entire ordeal but you see Isaac’s
trust. You see a little trust on the walk up to the mountain but you see an
abundance of trust when he allows himself to be bound. As I was studying this topic
I found many commentators who believe Isaac was anywhere from 13 to 33. There
is no way a 100+ year old man is going bind him against his will. Some people this
event is about human sacrifice but it’s a picture of the trust and obedience we must
all bring to God. You can see that God does indeed provide the lamb for
Abraham. He also provided the Lamb for us all through Yeshua’s sacrifice on the
cross.
John 19:28-30
28 After this, Jesus, knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the Scripture might
be fulfilled, said, “I thirst!” 29 Now a vessel full of sour wine was sitting there; and they filled
a sponge with sour wine, put it on hyssop, and put it to His mouth. 30 So when Jesus had
received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!” And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit.
Yeshua did what Isaac was not required to do. Look at the trust and obedience
required to endure that horrible death on the cross. He knew that His Father was
faithful to provide what He needed to fulfill His purpose. We have to trust in God’s
faithfulness so we can trust God and be obedient like Abraham and Yeshua
showed themselves to be. Scripture is very clear that God is our Provider. He is
Yahweh Yireh or Jehovah Jireh; the LORD will provide.
Isaiah 30:23 - Then He will give the rain for your seed
With which you sow the ground,
And bread of the increase of the earth;
It will be fat and plentiful.
In that day your cattle will feed
In large pastures.
Isaiah is speaking of after we come to that place of trust and obedience. How it is
quite clear that Yahweh provides for us even when we are disobedient.
Matthew 5:43-45
43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44
But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate
you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, 45 that you may be sons
of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends
rain on the just and on the unjust.
Everything we have and everything we are has come from Him, whether we are
righteous or unrighteous. Who can add even one minute to his own life? One
more breath of air when the lungs cease? We don’t have that kind of control so
why do we get so arrogant in thinking that it is us that has everything under
control? Are you so smart that you’ve acquired the educational degrees necessary
to get the great job? Well, who gave the aptitude to retain knowledge as you do?
Are you so beautiful that everyone wants to be around you and give you stuff?
Who blessed you with your beauty? So, what the point of being righteous if He
brings life and provision (sun and rain) to us all? The point is to become sons of
our Father in heaven; sons of God. That’s why we love our enemies, bless them
who curse us, do good to those who hate us and pray for those who use us. It is
our sacrifice. It is what we have that shows the world clearly to whom we belong.
2 Corinthians 9:6-11
6 But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully
will also reap bountifully. 7 So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or
of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver. 8 And God is able to make all grace abound
toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for
every good work. 9 As it is written:
“ He has dispersed abroad,
He has given to the poor;
His righteousness endures forever.”
10 Now may He who supplies seed to the sower, and bread for food, supply and multiply the
seed you have sown and increase the fruits of your righteousness, 11 while you are
enriched in everything for all liberality, which causes thanksgiving through us to God.
If we want love, we must sow love. If we want peace, we must sow peace. If we
want obedience, we must sow obedience. What does that mean? If we want
people that hate us to love us, we must first show love to people who hate us. If we
want to live in peace with our neighbor, we have to be peaceful with them even
when they are full of conflict with us. If we want those put into our care to be
obedient to us, we must first be obedient to those whom God has put in charge
over us, even when they are unrighteous and in our opinion unworthy of
obedience. That’s how it works. If you want to have a crop of corn you don’t sow
wheat seeds. Nor do sow anger when you want peace.
Mark 12:29-33
29 Jesus answered him, “The first of all the commandments is: ‘Hear, O Israel, the LORD our
God, the LORD is one. 30 And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all
your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment. 31
And the second, like it, is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other
commandment greater than these.”
32 So the scribe said to Him, “Well said, Teacher. You have spoken the truth, for there is one
God, and there is no other but He. 33 And to love Him with all the heart, with all the
understanding, with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love one’s neighbor as
oneself, is more than all the whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.”
This what Yahweh wants from us to start sowing in love; first to Him then to others.
That is more important than all the religious things people do that have no real
meaning for them. He wants our heart. If there is anything more important to you
than Him, you must sacrifice it. Just as Abraham was willing to sacrifice the son that
meant more to him than anything on earth, we have to be willing to do the same.
Our cars, our money, our stuff, our relationships, our beauty; all these things and
more can be our Isaac. Only we know what our prize possession is. What is the
most important thing in the world to you? And if you say God, be honest with
yourself. Are you ready to get up early in the morning to go give it all away for
Him? If not, when that faith you say you have is tested, you will come up short.
You have to trust God completely.
Luke 18:29-30
29 So He said to them, “Assuredly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or
parents or brothers or wife or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, 30 who shall not
receive many times more in this present time, and in the age to come eternal life.”
He wants to give you the desires of your heart. He wants you to have an abundant
life. Does that sound like He wants us to have nothing? That is why I believe it’s so
important for us to know the character of God. If you don’t know who God is, it’s
easy for the enemy to twist the words of God to make someone believe that He is
some mean ogre that wants us to be miserable, broke, and have no fun. To make
it appear that sin is good and righteousness is bad. If we do not have a personal
relationship with Him, we can be deceived.
Luke 21:1-4
1 And He looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the treasury, 2 and He saw also a
certain poor widow putting in two mites. 3 So He said, “Truly I say to you that this poor widow
has put in more than all; 4 for all these out of their abundance have put in offerings for God,
but she out of her poverty put in all the livelihood that she had.”
The rich thought they were doing something great because they gave so much, but
what they hadn’t given was the one thing God required; their heart. Have you put
in all that you have? Do you trust Him that much? Who or what has your heart?
Sermon by: Denise Baxley
Date: June 10, 2007
Scripture Reading: Genesis 22:1-18
1 Now it came to pass after these things that God tested Abraham, and said to him,
“Abraham!”
And he said, “Here I am.”
2 Then He said, “Take now 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.”
3 So Abraham rose early in the morning and saddled his donkey, and took two of his young
men with him, and Isaac his son; and he split the wood for the burnt offering, and arose and
went to the place of which God had told him. 4 Then on the third day Abraham lifted his eyes
and saw the place afar off. 5 And Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the
donkey; the lad and I will go yonder and worship, and we will come back to you.”
6 So Abraham took the wood 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. 7 But Isaac spoke to
Abraham his father and said, “My father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.”
Then he said, “Look, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?”
8 And Abraham said, “My son, God will provide for Himself the lamb for a burnt offering.” So
the two of them went together.
9 Then they came to the place of which God had told him. And Abraham built an altar there
and placed the wood in order; and he bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar, upon the
wood. 10 And Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son.
11 But the Angel of the LORD called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!”
So he said, “Here I am.”
12 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 son, from Me.”
13 Then Abraham lifted his eyes and looked, 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. 14 And Abraham called the name of the place, The-LORD-Will-Provide; as
it is said to this day, “In the Mount of the LORD it shall be provided.”
15 Then the Angel of the LORD called to Abraham a second time out of heaven, 16 and said:
“By Myself I have sworn, says the LORD, because you have done this thing, and have not
withheld your son, your only son— 17 blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply
your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore; and
your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies. 18 In your seed all the nations of
the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.”
Last week we took a look at one of the many facets of God. The LORD our
righteousness; Yahweh Tsidkenu or Jehovah Tsidkenu. This week and for the next
few weeks, we’ll be looking some other characteristics of our God. Our scripture
reading begins with Yahweh calling Abraham. We spoke last week about Abraham
being called righteous because of his faith. Now, we will see that faith walked out in
a way many would have difficulty accomplishing.
Abraham, a man that remained completely childless until age 86 when Hagar bore
him Ishmael, is told by God to sacrifice his only son Isaac. Wait a minute! I just
said that Ishmael was born when he was 86. But you know what? It seems quite
obvious that Abraham saw Ishmael as less than his son. He saw him as the son of
his slave. He ends up sending him off into the wilderness with his mother. I think
this is why it is so important to be married before you start doing the things it takes
to have children. Somehow things are very different when there’s marriage
involved and when there isn’t. It seems sad for the children because they really
don’t have any say in what their parent’s marital status was but that goes back to
what we’ve been talking about with the consequences of sin radiating far beyond
those who sin.
So, Abraham is called to sacrifice his only son; the only one he truly considers as
his son, the one he loves. And this is the part that always gets me. It doesn’t say
that he questioned God even once. It doesn’t show him asking God why. In fact, it
says he woke up early in the morning, got everything ready, and went to do what
God had told him to do. You know, say they have faith but Abraham’s actions here
are really showing it. So, the LORD reveals which mountain, Abraham leaves his
servants, takes the wood and the fire and his son and they started heading up to
the mountain to make the sacrifice.
Now, there’s a lot of speculation as to how old Isaac was at this time but one thing
seems clear as you analyze the information; he was not a little boy. It was his job to
carry the wood for the sacrifice so he would have needed to be at least a teenager
to be strong enough to do that. He does question his father wondering where the
sacrifice is, not realizing that he is the sacrifice. His father tells him that the LORD
will provide. You see Abraham’s faith through this entire ordeal but you see Isaac’s
trust. You see a little trust on the walk up to the mountain but you see an
abundance of trust when he allows himself to be bound. As I was studying this topic
I found many commentators who believe Isaac was anywhere from 13 to 33. There
is no way a 100+ year old man is going bind him against his will. Some people this
event is about human sacrifice but it’s a picture of the trust and obedience we must
all bring to God. You can see that God does indeed provide the lamb for
Abraham. He also provided the Lamb for us all through Yeshua’s sacrifice on the
cross.
John 19:28-30
28 After this, Jesus, knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the Scripture might
be fulfilled, said, “I thirst!” 29 Now a vessel full of sour wine was sitting there; and they filled
a sponge with sour wine, put it on hyssop, and put it to His mouth. 30 So when Jesus had
received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!” And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit.
Yeshua did what Isaac was not required to do. Look at the trust and obedience
required to endure that horrible death on the cross. He knew that His Father was
faithful to provide what He needed to fulfill His purpose. We have to trust in God’s
faithfulness so we can trust God and be obedient like Abraham and Yeshua
showed themselves to be. Scripture is very clear that God is our Provider. He is
Yahweh Yireh or Jehovah Jireh; the LORD will provide.
Isaiah 30:23 - Then He will give the rain for your seed
With which you sow the ground,
And bread of the increase of the earth;
It will be fat and plentiful.
In that day your cattle will feed
In large pastures.
Isaiah is speaking of after we come to that place of trust and obedience. How it is
quite clear that Yahweh provides for us even when we are disobedient.
Matthew 5:43-45
43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44
But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate
you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, 45 that you may be sons
of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends
rain on the just and on the unjust.
Everything we have and everything we are has come from Him, whether we are
righteous or unrighteous. Who can add even one minute to his own life? One
more breath of air when the lungs cease? We don’t have that kind of control so
why do we get so arrogant in thinking that it is us that has everything under
control? Are you so smart that you’ve acquired the educational degrees necessary
to get the great job? Well, who gave the aptitude to retain knowledge as you do?
Are you so beautiful that everyone wants to be around you and give you stuff?
Who blessed you with your beauty? So, what the point of being righteous if He
brings life and provision (sun and rain) to us all? The point is to become sons of
our Father in heaven; sons of God. That’s why we love our enemies, bless them
who curse us, do good to those who hate us and pray for those who use us. It is
our sacrifice. It is what we have that shows the world clearly to whom we belong.
2 Corinthians 9:6-11
6 But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully
will also reap bountifully. 7 So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or
of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver. 8 And God is able to make all grace abound
toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for
every good work. 9 As it is written:
“ He has dispersed abroad,
He has given to the poor;
His righteousness endures forever.”
10 Now may He who supplies seed to the sower, and bread for food, supply and multiply the
seed you have sown and increase the fruits of your righteousness, 11 while you are
enriched in everything for all liberality, which causes thanksgiving through us to God.
If we want love, we must sow love. If we want peace, we must sow peace. If we
want obedience, we must sow obedience. What does that mean? If we want
people that hate us to love us, we must first show love to people who hate us. If we
want to live in peace with our neighbor, we have to be peaceful with them even
when they are full of conflict with us. If we want those put into our care to be
obedient to us, we must first be obedient to those whom God has put in charge
over us, even when they are unrighteous and in our opinion unworthy of
obedience. That’s how it works. If you want to have a crop of corn you don’t sow
wheat seeds. Nor do sow anger when you want peace.
Mark 12:29-33
29 Jesus answered him, “The first of all the commandments is: ‘Hear, O Israel, the LORD our
God, the LORD is one. 30 And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all
your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment. 31
And the second, like it, is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other
commandment greater than these.”
32 So the scribe said to Him, “Well said, Teacher. You have spoken the truth, for there is one
God, and there is no other but He. 33 And to love Him with all the heart, with all the
understanding, with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love one’s neighbor as
oneself, is more than all the whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.”
This what Yahweh wants from us to start sowing in love; first to Him then to others.
That is more important than all the religious things people do that have no real
meaning for them. He wants our heart. If there is anything more important to you
than Him, you must sacrifice it. Just as Abraham was willing to sacrifice the son that
meant more to him than anything on earth, we have to be willing to do the same.
Our cars, our money, our stuff, our relationships, our beauty; all these things and
more can be our Isaac. Only we know what our prize possession is. What is the
most important thing in the world to you? And if you say God, be honest with
yourself. Are you ready to get up early in the morning to go give it all away for
Him? If not, when that faith you say you have is tested, you will come up short.
You have to trust God completely.
Luke 18:29-30
29 So He said to them, “Assuredly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or
parents or brothers or wife or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, 30 who shall not
receive many times more in this present time, and in the age to come eternal life.”
He wants to give you the desires of your heart. He wants you to have an abundant
life. Does that sound like He wants us to have nothing? That is why I believe it’s so
important for us to know the character of God. If you don’t know who God is, it’s
easy for the enemy to twist the words of God to make someone believe that He is
some mean ogre that wants us to be miserable, broke, and have no fun. To make
it appear that sin is good and righteousness is bad. If we do not have a personal
relationship with Him, we can be deceived.
Luke 21:1-4
1 And He looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the treasury, 2 and He saw also a
certain poor widow putting in two mites. 3 So He said, “Truly I say to you that this poor widow
has put in more than all; 4 for all these out of their abundance have put in offerings for God,
but she out of her poverty put in all the livelihood that she had.”
The rich thought they were doing something great because they gave so much, but
what they hadn’t given was the one thing God required; their heart. Have you put
in all that you have? Do you trust Him that much? Who or what has your heart?
Sermon by: Denise Baxley
Date: June 10, 2007
