Speaker 1: 0:00

Well, welcome to Madison Church, To the online audience you're watching or listening. At a later date, we want to invite you to join us this holiday season. If you're watching before December 1st, we want to invite you to join us this holiday season. It is a great opportunity to either get connected or reconnected with Madison Church. However, I do want to warn you check our website for when we're online only, because it would be a shame if you showed up and nobody else was here, and for those of you in the room many of you have been with us throughout this entire series Guided by God, the last three weeks in which we've been talking about how do you hear God's voice, because sometimes God's voice is very tangible, it's very loud and there's no doubt about it that God was speaking to you.

Speaker 1: 0:39

But most times, most times, god's voice isn't loud, it isn't tangible, it's not in your face, and oftentimes we're unsure, we are uncertain, and so each week of this series, we've been talking about how God has met different people right where they're at, how he's met them and what they needed to do to find clarity in the chaos of their life. How they found direction when they weren't sure which way to go. How they found assurance when they're struggling with doubt. In week one, we looked at Samuel and he learned how to listen to God's voice. You see, god was calling Samuel, but Samuel had not yet heard God's voice. He didn't know what God's voice sounded like. And Samuel responds with a simple but profound prayer that we see every single one of the men that we've looked at the last few weeks. We're going to see it again today A prayer that's just here I am. Here I am, and personally for me, that's how I've been trying to start my prayers this week. I just go to God and I'm ready to pray. I take my deep breath it's been a practice for a long time to God and I'm ready to pray. I take my deep breath, as has been a practice for a long time. Here I am and I just wait a moment before I start shouting out stuff.

Speaker 1: 1:54

In week two, we turned to Moses and we discovered how discerning God's will, how to do that and how to do that in the ordinary, because oftentimes we expect something extraordinary when God is speaking to us. But what we learned was that God often shows up in the mundane moments of our lives, and last week we walked alongside Gideon, and we learned that we needed to trust in God. So, throughout this series, how do we hear from God? What are some things we need to develop in our personal lives, our own spiritual formation, if you will? Well, first we need to listen. Let's approach God with a deep breath and a here I am, what do you have to say to me? And we begin to discern. Where might God be showing up in the everyday, ordinary moments of my life, instead of looking up here, back there, way down there, for God? What if he's right here in the ordinary? So we're starting to learn that. And then we trust, because oftentimes, when God is saying something to us, it's going to have to deal with trust a little bit. We've got to trust that where God is leading us is good. And today we're going to talk about obedience. We're talking about Abraham, because I think that a lot of us get stuck here. We listen to God, we discern, we have a fairly good idea where he wants us to go, we trust, we're like, yeah, god's not bad, he's good. And then it's like, okay, well, now you got to do something. And we're like, well, hold on a second Hold on. And we're going to learn from Abraham today. What does it mean to say yes to God when the way forward feels uncertain or unknown? What does it mean when we don't have all of the answers? How do we obey, then?

Speaker 1: 3:31

Abraham's story offers us powerful example. Abraham, for a little bit of context, before we dive into the story. He was called to leave behind his home, his family, his security, his livelihood, called to leave everything and to step into the unknown, complete unknown to what was next. He had to trust in God's promises, even though what God promises him is impossible by human standards. And then, later on, after he takes that step and he does take that step later on he's faced with the biggest test of his life. But through these moments, abraham shows us okay, abraham shows us that obedience isn't about understanding every detail, it's about trusting the one who does. A little bit reminiscent of Gideon's story last week, right? So, as we reflect on Abraham's story today, what I want you to see and hold on to and keep at the front of your mind is that obedience requires faith. Obedience requires faith, it requires courage and it requires trust in God. So if you want to follow along and we always encourage that you follow along we're going to Genesis, chapter 12, and we're going to be studying briefly here verses 1 through 4.

Speaker 1: 4:47

And this isn't just a story about Abraham, a biography of someone who lived a long time ago. For the original audience, this is how God is ushering in his new covenant, these new promises, leaning forward into the person of Jesus. There was the fall, and where is God now? This is before the Hebrew people are enslaved in Egypt, and God is going to reach out to Abraham and says I have not forgotten you. I've not forgotten you. So the Lord, beginning in verse one, says to Abram leave your native country, your relatives and your father's family and go to the land that I will show you. I will make you into a great nation. I will bless you, I'll make you famous and you will be a blessing to others. I will bless those who bless you and curse those who treat you with contempt. All the families on earth will be blessed through you.

Speaker 1: 5:40

As I mentioned, abraham Abram at this point in the story. His name is Abram. His name will be changed later to Abraham, but at this point in the story, abram has to leave behind everything he knows. And four, five, 6,000 years ago, whenever this story actually takes place. That was an incredibly difficult thing to ask, because all of his protection was with family and community and his tribe. You have a bad harvest, you might have a cousin or an uncle who can help you out. Something bad happens at home. You have family, you have community there and he's leaving all of his stability and I know that for some of us in the room we are chasing stability like crazy. We want stability in our lives. We want that firm foundation that never shakes that. Whatever comes our way, we can withstand, and God is actually calling him to leave that. He already had it and God is calling him to leave it. This was a call to abandon every tangible assurance of security known to man at that time.

Speaker 1: 6:40

For you and I today, what would that call look like? If you were having an Abram-like call in your life today? It might mean relocating to a new location that you've never lived before. Some of you have done that. Congrats. Welcome to Madison, wisconsin. I hope this isn't your first winter. It already snowed, so some of you have already done that.

Speaker 1: 6:59

Maybe it is a career change. You know, you went to school, you studied something, you've been working your way up a career ladder and God says that's great. There's a lot of promise down the road, maybe vice president, maybe board of directors, something really great. But actually I want you to do this, and I know it has nothing to do with what you studied and I know it has nothing to do with what you've worked for, but this is what I want you to do. That is an Abram-like call in your life.

Speaker 1: 7:24

It might mean practicing radical generosity or radical hospitality in 2024, which I know is difficult, right Like I went and bought orange juice the other day at a grocery store and it was $9.99. And I'm sitting there thinking about how a gallon of orange juice which was picked right here in the United States can cost more than three gallons of oil. We get other places. I'm not an economist, but it might mean causing being radically generous and hospitable with what you have already. It might mean leaving a toxic relationship. It might mean a breakup. It might mean walking away from someone You're like. Well, that's scary, because I'd rather have this, and this is what I know, than walk out here to something I don't know. But God says no, this is an Abram-like call on your life. These things would be challenging for me. They'd be challenging for you, any of us here today. It doesn't mean you don't have faith. They'd be challenging for you Any of us here today. It doesn't mean you don't have faith. God's call is difficult.

Speaker 1: 8:28

While we celebrate new beginnings in today's world, let's remember that in Abram's context, they didn't. It was all about rootedness and connection and loyalty. So, whereas here, if you were like, hey, I'm gonna leave my job and I'm gonna do this new like nonprofit or ministry, or I'm gonna do this people at were like hey, I'm going to leave my job and I'm going to do this new, like non-profit or ministry, or I'm going to do this. People at Madison Church, we'd be happy for you. All right, that sounds cool, excited. We'll celebrate you and Abram's day.

Speaker 1: 8:52

That was betrayal. What do you mean? You're leaving us, we're not good enough for you anymore. Like you're turning your back on the family. What if, abram, I need you next year. Where will you be? And Abram said well, this is what God is calling me to do.

Speaker 1: 9:09

God's call wasn't just about leaving, but it was about Abram trusting God for whatever laid ahead. What's interesting is that God makes all of these promises to Abraham. Abram, he makes all these promises. You're gonna get this land. You're gonna be famous, you're gonna have all of these descendants. And spoiler alert, if you don't know how the story goes Abram dies before they go to the promised land. Abram dies before he's famous. Abram dies before he has all of these descendants.

Speaker 1: 9:41

And so I want to kind of begin with the end here, for those of you who are thinking like, hey, I'm going to say yes to God, I'm going to check, listen, I'm going to do this, I'm going to do that and I'm going to be obedient. God is going to promise me these things and God kept his word. Okay, god kept his word. They got to the promised land. We're talking about Abram in Madison, wisconsin, some 10,000 years later, so he's famous. I think it's safe to say.

Speaker 1: 10:02

God answered all of not when Abram could experience them, and we have to keep that in mind as we continue to go through the story. What does Abram do? Verse four he departed as the Lord instructed and Lot went with him. Abram was 75 years old. What I like about Abram, and the reason we talk about Abram's faithfulness and not like Gideon's faithfulness, is because, whereas when God asked Gide last week, when we were talking about him, to do something, gideon was like prove it, prove it, prove it, prove it one more time. Okay, god, I swear, last time I'm going to ask. Abram is asked the same thing Trust me, do this. And Abram does it, not by saying just a yes, lord, but with his feet. He actually lives it out and he does. And Abram demonstrates.

Speaker 1: 10:53

Faith is not about having all of the answers Faith and obedience. It's not about having all of the answers. This passage reveals the radical nature of God's call. I want to keep going back to this. For some of us, maybe the tension, the reason we're not hearing from God, is because God has already spoken about something. Six months ago, six years ago. He says I go that way. And we're like ah, do you have anything else to offer? Like you have anything else to say? And God says I've spoken, now go. And then we get sometime down the road and we're like why doesn't God speak to me anymore? It sometime down the road and we're like why doesn't God speak to me anymore? It's because God is on the next step. He's like come on, I've got more to tell you. As we go on, now we might think again. I already kind of spoiled the ending. So Abram's going to die before any of these things kind of happen.

Speaker 1: 11:42

You might think that, well, abram's now doing what God called him to do Like amazing. The rest of his life's got to be like really great, right and not challenging, because that's what we believe in the United States, western context, that's what you're taught, right? If you follow Jesus and God's will, then everything's just going to be like hunky-dory and like all right and we're going to go with it. However, we see that that's not true with Abram, who will be Abraham in this next passage. We're going down to chapter 22,. But we're actually going to see that God is the one behind Abram's greatest challenge.

Speaker 1: 12:17

We read in verse 1, sometime later, god tested Abraham's faith. Abraham, god, called yes. He replied here I am. That prayer, here I am. Take your son, your only son yes, not to be confused with anyone else Isaac, whom you love so much, and go to the land of Moriah and go and sacrifice him as a burnt offering on one of the mountains which I will show you. Wait a second. God Didn't you promise me a lot of descendants? And at this point he's about 100 years old and he's like I'm not maybe a really smart guy, but I know enough that at 80, I shouldn't have had a kid, and I'm pretty sure that those odds have gone down substantially more since then. And you promised, you promised descendants. Now, if I kill Isaac, it seems like that promise goes away, doesn't it? Like God? You promised me and now you want me to take it away. And this challenge is relatable.

Speaker 1: 13:25

Think about this in the chaos of your life. That faith often involves trusting God when his plans defy logic or even threaten what we hold dear In your own life. God may be asking you to do something that defies reason or logic or common sense certainly pushes you out of your comfort zone. Common sense certainly pushes you out of your comfort zone. And yet we see faithful Abraham say, okay, okay, we'll do that. We read when they arrived at the place where God had told them to go, abraham built an altar and arranged the wood on it. We actually read elsewhere that Isaac carries the wood up the mountain. Can you imagine that? Just the irony of that. You're carrying the wood that's going to later heavy stuff.

Speaker 1: 14:13

Abraham built the altar, then he tied his son Isaac and laid him on top of the altar of the wood, and Abraham picked up the knife to kill his son as a sacrifice. And it's, at that moment, knife in the air If you can imagine the scene knife in the air. He's gone through everything. He might be looking around a little bit like God, are you going to do something? You know, I mean, because we do this, we'll take some steps. We'll take some steps. We're like, yeah, I trust God, I trust God. And it's not until he's like okay, now there's really no turning back, there's really no turning back.

Speaker 1: 14:45

And the angel of the Lord said Abraham, abraham, okay. So maybe he was a little late, because he does sound startled, doesn't he? So maybe the angel was meaning to get there a little sooner. Yes, abraham replied. Here I am. Don't lay a hand on the boy. The angel said Do not hurt him in any way, for now I know that you truly fear God. You have not withheld from me even your son, your only son.

Speaker 1: 15:06

Then Abraham looked up and saw a ram caught by its horns in a thicket. So he took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering in the place of his son. Abraham's obedience, his faithful, unwavering obedience, culminates in God's intervention. He stops the sacrifice of Isaac and he provides a ram in its place, and this affirms God's justice and provision because, remember, to the original audience, who are living in an old covenant society, sacrifices were central to worship and the ram symbolizes that God would provide what they needed to worship. Now we look at this as people who live after Jesus and we can obviously see some obvious comparisons. Abraham was asked to sacrifice his only son and we know that that's exactly what God did. Through the life-death of Jesus, when Abraham's faith was tested, god provided the ram and then for you and I today, god provides his son.

Speaker 1: 16:10

You might be asking today, like what enabled Abraham to obey such difficult commands? Remember, he's just like you and I, so how could he go through it when I struggle with it so much? Well, I think it's his confidence in God. I can't explain why. I think it's just that he had such a confidence in God that whatever God asked him to do, he used to okay. Well, god will somehow come through on his promises. And actually it's mentioned later on in the book of Hebrews in your New Testament, that that's exactly what's going on.

Speaker 1: 16:44

We read in Hebrews 11, it was by faith Abraham obeyed when God called him to leave home and go to another land that God would give him as an inheritance. He went without knowing where he was. So in Genesis 12, god calls him, says go, do this. And he obeys. He says I don't know where I'm going, but by faith I'm going to go there. It rested on the assurance that God would keep his promises. When God calls us to take a step of faith or to surrender whatever feels secure to us, we can trust that his promises are reliable. I don't know if you're aware of this, but the same God who called Abraham and kept his promises to Abraham is the same God who's talking to you today. The same God. If he kept those promises, he'll keep these promises. But it's a reminder that for us today, as we get into chapter 22 of Abraham's journey, that faith is refined through testing. Faith is refined through testing. You see, abraham didn't know where he was going when God first called him. But then something interesting happens in verse 22, and we've got to go back to Hebrews for this in verse 11. It was by faith that Abraham offered Isaac as a sacrifice when God was testing him, abraham, who had received God's promises, was ready to sacrifice his only son, isaac, even though God told him Isaac is the son through whom your descendants will be counted.

Speaker 1: 18:15

Listen to this next part. Abraham reasoned that if Isaac died, god was able to bring him back to life again. All of a sudden, reason is not informing Abraham's faith. His faith is informing his reason. First thing, I got to go to a new land. Okay, I don't know where it's going to go, but I trust in God. Now there's this significantly, substantially more difficult thing that God wants me to do and Abraham says well, god is not a liar and God promised I would have all of this. So if I go to the top of the mountain and I kill Isaac and obviously I don't want to do that I'm probably going to put a little damper on the relationship between me and my son. But God could raise him from the dead. All of a sudden, it was faith, that informed reason, not reason that informed faith.

Speaker 1: 19:04

And it's a good time to talk about testing and the difference between testing and temptation. I think for some of us, we have a difficult time knowing that when God is testing us and when our enemy is tempting us. So let me comment on that a little bit. James 1.13,. James, the brother of Jesus, clearly states when you are being tempted, do not say God is tempting me. God is never tempted to do wrong and so he will never tempt you or anyone else to do wrong. The big differences here are that temptation is an enticement to sin. Temptation often appeals to our weaknesses and our desires. Temptation's goal is to draw us away from God, and our spiritual enemy uses temptation to break our trust in God and to lead us into disobedience. On the other hand, testing is the way that God strengthens our character. Testing is the way that God strengthens our faith.

Speaker 1: 20:07

When God tested Abraham by asking him to sacrifice Isaac, it wasn't to cause him to stumble or to sin, but rather it was to refine his trust and obedience in God. You see, testing reveals what's truly in our hearts and it can draw us closer to God if we learn and if we depend on Him more often. So here's the key distinction. If you're taking notes temptation seeks to destroy, while testing seeks to build. So if you're in a season of life and you're like, is this a spiritual attack, am I being tempted? Well, I don't know. Is this something that's trying to cause you to stumble and to sin and rely more on yourself than God, or is this something that's revealing something that you need to eliminate from your life so that you can trust in God more. Well, then it might be a test. You might ask yourself the question this way is whatever it is drawing me closer to God or pulling me away from God? It might be an easier way to ask that question. So temptation, testing Abraham. What about us today? Will you trust God enough to obey even when the way forward is unclear? Well, you don't know what tomorrow brings.

Speaker 1: 21:25

Abraham's faith reminds us that obedience is faith in action. Obedience is faith in action. It's not about how much schooling you have. You have the MDiv or you have a PhD in Bible or religions. Spiritual maturity isn't about being a Christian for a hundred years, not going to church every week for your entire life, growing up in Sunday school. Rather, what we see in Abram and Abraham's story is that our faith and the sign of maturity is through obedience. How quickly do you move when you hear God say go? Do we like Moses? Do we struggle? Are we like Gideon? Do we say prove it, god. Or are we like Abraham and we say, yes, god, I will go? Remember only one of those three guys are noted throughout the whole Old and New Testaments as being faithful. Now, they were all faithful in different ways, but one of them was known. For that.

Speaker 1: 22:22

I love what AW Tozer says. The Bible recognized no faith that does not lead us to obedience. There's no faith that does not lead to obedience, nor does it recognize any obedience that does not spring from faith. The two are opposite sides of the same coin. What Tozer is saying is, if you have faith, it should lead you to be obedient to what God is saying. There is no more checking the box I'm a Christian, sure, that's what I believe. There's no more just showing up to church on Sunday. Well, I went, so I'm good. Tozer says that's a false Christian religion. Rather, if what you believe is true, it should lead you to be different and to be obedient.

Speaker 1: 23:03

And so some of the things to ask ourselves today is God calling you to step out of your comfort zone? Is he asking you to take on a challenge? Is there something that you need to surrender Kind of talked about that at the beginning right, a relationship, a dream, a plan that you've been clinging to? Are you delaying obedience because the outcome feels uncleared? It's often said a lot in Christian circles and I think it's accurate, but delayed obedience is still disobedience. Are you delaying something because you're just like God? I just need a little bit more clarity on that.

Speaker 1: 23:37

Faith begins with trust, but it is completed in obedience. Christian maturity is not about knowing more. Rather, it is about obeying more quickly. Not about knowing more, but obeying more quickly. It's about reducing that gap between God's call and our response, trusting him enough to act immediately rather than hesitating with fears and doubts or procrastination. And so, as we come to a close today in this series, the series is over.

Speaker 1: 24:10

We come to this point. What will you do with what you've heard? Perhaps today is the only part of the message you've heard. What will you do with what you've heard? You've heard two, three parts of it. You've heard all four parts. What will you do with what we have talked about?

Speaker 1: 24:25

This journey listening like Samuel, discerning like Moses, trusting or learning to trust like Gideon, obeying like Abraham has been about learning to follow God's voice in every area of our lives. And so where are you on this journey, area of our lives? And so where are you on this journey? Are you still learning to listen to God's voice with all of the noise going on in society? Are you here today and you're wrestling with discerning God's will. Do you hesitate to trust him in the uncertainty of what it is he's asking you to do? Or are you called to take a step and you're dragging your feet? And why are you there, like? What's holding you back? And what would it take for you to take that next step where God is opening up a door?

Speaker 1: 25:15

I want to encourage you this morning that, unlike Abraham, we live on the other side of the cross. We live on the other side of Jesus. We know the fullness of God's provision already through Christ. Today, you're not expected to obey in your own strength. We obey through the grace and power of Jesus, who is walking with us every step of the way. And so today I would ask you seriously don't let this be the end of a conclusion, the conclusion the end of a series, but the beginning of a step you're taking to hear from God better. Where is God calling you to step out? Don't wait for the perfect time, the perfect circumstances, the perfect situation. Just take the step now which brings us to the communion table.

Speaker 1: 26:07

This is a moment that embodies faith and obedience. Jesus trusted God's plan, even when it led him to the cross. Jesus' obedience wasn't just about himself, it was for you. His obedience was about you. And so, when we take the bread and the cup, we're reminded by his sacrifice, his sacrifice which covers our failures and empowers us to trust and obey. And so, as we reflect, what has God been asking of me? What will you do with what you have heard? As Jesus says in John 10, 27, my sheep listen to my voice. I know them and they follow me. So the question is will you follow him today?