Monday, November 27, 2006, Part 4
"By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac" (Hebrews 11:17).
IDEA: Faith is living by trusting God in the tests that He gives to us.
PURPOSE: To help listeners understand that God sometimes tests our faith.
Do you think Satan tests you or tempts you? How?
Do you think God ever tempts you or tests you?
What is the difference?
I. How does God's testing differ from Satan's testing?
Satan tempts us to destroy us:
"When desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death" (James 1:15).
"Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary, the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour" (1 Peter 5:8).
God tests us to strengthen us:
"Moses said to the people, 'Do not fear, for God has come to test you, and that His fear may be before you so that you may not sin'" (Exodus 20:20).
"You shall remember yhat the Lord your God led you all the way these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you and test you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not" (Deuteronomy 8:2).
II. The Hebrew word for "testing" does not mean to entice to do wrong.
When it has a personal object, it means to test someone to see whether that person proves worthy:
"Now when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon concerning the name of the Lord, she came to test him with hard questions" (1 Kings 10:1, 2 Chronicles 9:1).
"Please test your servants for ten days, and let them give us vegetables to eat and water to drink . . . So he consented with them in this matter, and tested them ten days" (Daniel 1:12, 14).
III. What was the nature of the test God gave Abraham?
What was at stake was not only Isaac's life but also Abraham's faith.
Abraham is tested by the struggle of wanting to keep God's gift of a son, yet to obey God by giving him up.
Do we ever face similar struggles?