Audio Sermons

Renewing Our Strength in the Lord:

When God Tests Our Faith

Life B-P Church Worship Service, 21^st September 2025

Text: Hebrews 11:17-19

How Did God Test Abraham’s Faith?

• God’s command to him consists of three simple steps: (Genesis 22:2) “Take Isaac,” “go to the land of Moriah”, and “offer him there.”
• But God hates any kind of human sacrifice. (Deuteronomy 12:31; 18:10)
• God had no intention of taking Isaac away from Abraham.
• The command was meant only to test his faith. (Genesis 22:1)
• When his faith had been proven, he received his son back alive. (Genesis 22:11,12)

What Lessons Can We Learn from Abraham’s Faith?

1. We need to have faith in God in times of crises because of our incomplete knowledge of God’s plan.

• There are many things God has chosen not to reveal to us yet. But He wants us to simply trust Him. (Cf. Isaiah 55:8,9)
• God has a good purpose for everything He does, and for everything He allows to happen in our lives. (Cf. Romans 8:28)

2. Faith obediently submits to God’s will.

• Faith makes us willing to give up anything God requires from us, even the things that are most precious to us.
• To the Hebrew recipients of this epistle, their rich Jewish heritage was most precious to them – Would they give this up for Christ?

3. Faith confidently depends on God’s power and provision.

• Abraham’s confidence in God’s provision is seen in Genesis 22:8 – “My son, God will provide Himself a lamb for a burnt offering.”
• Abraham’s faith in God’s power is seen in Hebrews 11:19 – “Accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead.”
• But this does not mean that God will always choose to use His power the way that we would like Him to use it.

4. Our faith benefits by being manifested, proven and refined through crises.

• It was God’s plan that Abraham’s faith should be fully revealed and refined through this severe trial.
• It also gave him an early preview of God’s sacrifice of His only begotten Son at that place about two thousand years later. (Moriah, which is mentioned in Genesis 22:2 and 2 Chronicles 3:1)

Application:

• God has made these lessons clear to us in His Word because we need them for the trials we face in life.

Questions for Personal Reflection:

1. How do you respond to a trial in which you are greatly perplexed?

2. If Christ should require you to give up something that is very precious to you for His sake, will you submit obediently to Him?

3. Do you trust in God’s sufficient provision for you when you suffer loss?

4. How should you respond to trials if you know that through them your faith is revealed and refined?