Tuesday, November 7, 2006, Part 1

"By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, of whom it was said, 'In Isaac your seed shall be called,' concluding that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead, from which he also received him in a figurative sense" (Hebrews 11:17-19).

IDEA: We may handle the tests of our faith better when we can see how someone else took a strategic test.

PURPOSE: To help listeners appreciate the importance to us of Abraham's experience.

As a teacher, do you give many tests?

Do you think students like tests?

Why give tests if students don't like them?

Do you give tests to see how many students you can flunk?

Some tests of our faith can seem overwhelming.

I. What makes some particular tests of our faith difficult?

II. Does hearing about the ways God has tested other people defeat us or inspire us?

Other people's tests can defeat us when we wonder what we would do in the same situation. Latimer, before going to the stake, said, "God never promised to give us courage to put our finger in a candle flame."

Other people's tests can inspire us when we see what happens if we have a deep faith in God and His promises. If someone else got through it by faith, perhaps we can as well.

III. Abraham faced one of the most difficult tests of his faith recorded in the Bible.

Hebrews 11:17-19 describes that test: "By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, of whom it was said, 'In Isaac your seed shall be called,' concluding that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead, from which he also received him in a figurative sense."

In all the examples of faith mentioned in Hebrews 11, Abraham is the only one who is described as being "tested."