Peter Tan-Chi - Doubting God's Promises?
Three qualities that I want you to learn from the faith of Abraham. Alright? The first one is Obedience. The second one is restedness, Rest, the third one is total Surrender. Let’s begin with the first one, the faith of Abraham, The evidence of true faith is obedience. Let’s look at Hebrews 11:6. Everybody, «By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed by going out to a place which he was to receive for an inheritance; and he went out, not knowing where he was going». The Bible tells us when God spoke to Abraham, God told Abraham: Leave your family, your relatives. Go to a place that I will show you. And you know what happened? That’s exactly what Abraham did, so that you will know what happened. Look at the story in Genesis chapter 12.
Alright, Genesis 12:1-2. «The LORD said to Abram, 'Go forth from your country and from your relatives, and from your father’s house, to the land, which I will show you;» Notice he does not know where. What is faith? Faith is obeying. Tell your neighbor: Faith is obeying God. So faith is more than a feeling. It is simply called obedience. Then, God gave him a promise. Faith is trusting God’s promises that He’s going to reward you. Now, what is the reward? (v.2) «I (notice God is saying 'I') will make you a great nation, I will bless you, I will make your name great; and you shall be a blessing». So God promised Abraham that he’s going to be blessed, that he’ll be a great nation. Understand? You are blessed to bless others!
Continue, the Bible tells us, (v.3) «'I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse. In you all the families of the earth will be blessed.'» How in the world can all the families of the earth be blessed because of Abraham? Chinese, Filipino, Japanese, all kinds of people. It’s because of the descendant of Abraham. Who is the descendant? The most famous descendant of Abraham? Jesus. Now, continue. (v.4) «Abram went forth as the LORD had spoken to him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old». My friend, it’s never too late to change the direction of your life. Here you can begin to learn that faith is progressing. Abraham did not have a perfect faith, but he started by obeying God. Be authentic. Have a genuine desire to trust God.
Let’s look at the book of James. «Even so», everybody read, (James 2:17) «faith, if it has no works is dead» Are we clear? (v.18) «Someone may well say, 'You have faith, I have works; show me your faith without works, and I will show you my faith by my works.' You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder». So intellectual assent, intellectual belief is not biblical faith. The demons believe, but they are not transformed. They have not repented. So what’s the point? Salvation is by grace through faith. It’s the work of God. But faith will never be alone. Faith will have evidence, and that evidence is called obedience. It’s called good works.
So everybody, listen now, you may be attending CCF and you are thinking, 'I’m a Christian because I attend CCF'. A real Christian is somebody who has placed his faith in Jesus, and because of your faith in Jesus, you will obey Jesus. Are we clear? All right, so what is the faith of Abraham? Number one, obedience. Your faith will be tested. Your faith will be challenged. You know why? God wants to develop your faith. Look at Genesis 12:11. After God gave Abraham the promise, everybody read. (v.7) «The LORD appeared to Abram and said, 'To your descendants, I will give this land.'» So what did Abram do? Abraham built and altar and he worshipped the Lord. Alright? So Abram was happy. This is the land! Now read the next verse. (v.10) «There was a famine in the land. Abram went down to Egypt».
What happened to Egypt? Well, the Bible tells us the most amazing thing happened. Abraham lied. You know why? Why did he lie? Let me tell you. (Genesis 12:11–13) «It came about when he was near Egypt, he said to Sarai, his wife, 'I know you’re a beautiful woman, when the Egyptians see you, they will say, 'This is his wife'; and they will kill me, but they will let you live. Please say you are my sister, so that it may go well with me because of you, that I may live on account of you». The Bible tells us Pharaoh took his wife, put her in the harem. But God did something. You see, once you understand that God is sovereign, He’s going to do something. You know what happened? Well, the Bible tells us in Genesis 12:17. «The LORD struck Pharaoh».
Now we do not know what really happened. We don’t have the details but it was so bad. (v.17), «with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram’s wife». Everybody knew. Remember, Pharaoh was the king. It was so bad. (v.18) «Pharaoh called Abram, 'What is this you have done to me? Why did you not tell me she was your wife? '» Now how did Pharaoh know? I don’t know. But the judgment must have been so bad, that Pharaoh knew. (v.19) «Why did you say, 'She’s my sister' so that I took her for my wife? Now, then here’s your wife, take her and go». What did Abraham learn? «My security is not in lying. My security is in God». When God gives you a promise, then that means He has to fulfill it. Amen? How can I be the father of a multitude of nations if I’m killed?
You see, Abraham did not know how to apply faith. He’s a young believer, but remember, faith will grow. Next, what is the characteristics of Abraham’s faith? It’s called Rest. The faith of Abraham is such that he is able to rest. What do we mean by rest? Everybody, you need to understand that faith in God’s promises will let you experience restedness. Let’s read this together. What is the Bible telling us? Well, everybody read this. If you put your faith in God, this is what’s going to happen. Psalm 37:4 «You will delight yourself in the LORD». Are you delighting in the Lord? How can you put your faith in someone you don’t love, you don’t delight in? «And God will give you the desires of your heart».
Notice the sequence, delight in God first, and He will grant you the desires of your heart. But delight in Him first. And I discovered, as I delight in God, my desires change. That’s amazing. These are all verbs. What does it mean to put your faith in God’s promises? Commit. The word 'commit' is like rolling a stone. Completely rolling it to God. (v.5) «Commit your way to the LORD. Trust in Him, and He will do it». That is the meaning of faith in God’s promises, you commit. You trust Him that He will do it. Next, (v.7) «Rest».
Notice, you’re able to rest in the Lord. Rest means what? «Wait patiently». What does it mean to rest? «Do not fret». Don’t be nervous, don’t be anxious, «because of him who prospers in his way». Sometimes you look at unbelievers and you think their life is so great and you are fretting. You want to copy them because you think their lives are much better. Can I tell you something about resting in God? Number one, you will experience real freedom. Freedom from always demanding your way. How many of you are always demanding your way? You are not rested. Freedom from always wanting to be in control. How many of you can identify with such a person? Thank you for your honesty. We have one, two, honest people. Three, four. Okay, we’re having more honest people coming up.
Number three, freedom from anxiety, fear, depression. And you know what? If you learn to put your faith in God’s promises, you have freedom to let go and let God. You know, many Christians are not enjoying the rested life. I’m not saying you are free from problems, but all I’m saying is this, in the midst of problems, you can experience peace. You can experience security. Why? Because your faith is in God’s character, in God’s promises. Therefore, you cannot trust God or have faith in God, if you don’t know Him. That’s why many of us are having a problem trusting God because you don’t know Him. See, when I talk about these things in your mind you say, «That’s impossible, Peter. I’ve got to be in control. I have to make sure all my children are okay. I have to make sure all of my, whatever, your disciples will follow you».
I have learned that I am not in control. I’m only in control of one thing: my response. I surrender everything to the Lord. Everybody read this. «There was a strife between the herdsmen of Abram’s livestock and the herdsmen of Lot’s livestock». In other words, they were both so prosperous, that the land could not accommodate Abraham and Lot, his nephew. And the Bible tells us, I’d like you to see what Abraham did. Abraham initiated, look at what Abraham said. (v.9) «'Please let there be no strife between you and me, Between my herdsmen and your herdsmen, for we are brothers. Is not the whole land before you? Please separate from me; if to the left, I go to the right; if to the right, I’ll go to the left.'»
Now I want to imagine now that you are Uncle Abraham. You are the uncle and here’s your nephew. Now will you give them such an offer? If your business is in raising animals, what is the most important asset you have? You must have a piece of property where there is water and grass. Am I correct? Now what did Abraham do? He’s rested, because his faith when it comes to prosperity is not in the land, his faith is in God. He learned that lesson. Now, if you are Lot, what will you do? Now, Filipino culture. Will you defer to your uncle? Yes or no? «Uncle you choose. You go first. You want left, I go left. You want right, you go right». Am I correct? But Lot is not a Filipino. He’s not Asian. He does not know the meaning of respect.
So what did he do? Well, let’s find out. The Bible tell us, (Genesis 13:10) «Lot lifted up his eyes and saw all the valley of the Jordan, it was well watered everywhere, this was before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, like the garden of the LORD,» Apparently it was a beautiful place. «like the land of Egypt as you go to Zoar. So Lot chose for himself all the valley of the Jordan and Lot journeyed eastward. They separated from each other». Have you been taken advantage of by people? For you to finish strong in the Lord, you need to learn to put your faith in God’s promises no matter what. Say that with me: Put your faith in God’s promises, no matter what.
Genesis 13:14–15 «The LORD said to Abram after Lot separated from him, 'Now lift up your eyes look from the place where you are, northward, southward, eastward, westward». It doesn’t matter whether Lot went east, Lot went west. Just look. And everybody read, (v.15) «for all the land which you see, I will give it to you and to your descendants forever». What did Abraham learn? Blessing does not come from the land. It comes from who? From God! My friend, you will not be rested if you don’t realize that God is faithful. The Bible tells us, God told Abraham after a long time, «You know Abraham, we are going to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah». When Abraham heard this, he had no ill-feeling, he loved Lot. Now some of us would be excited, «Good riddance I say, burn that place. Burn that nephew of mine».
Not Abraham. Abraham interceded. You know what Abraham did? You will learn to experience rest when you put your faith in God. Putting your faith in God means you will pray. It doesn’t mean you are lazy, you do nothing. Look at his prayer. Okay? In Genesis chapter 18, look at the prayer of Abraham. (v.23) «Abraham came, 'Will you sweep away the righteous with the wicked? Suppose there are fifty righteous people within Sodom and Gomorrah, will you sweep it away and not spare the place for the sake of the fifty righteous people? (Look) Far be it from You to do such a thing to slay the righteous with the wicked so that the righteous and the wicked are treated alike. Far be it from You! Shall not the Judge of all the earth deal justly? '»
Abraham knew that God is fair! He knew God is just. So, he says, «Lord, if there are 50 people, will you really destroy Sodom and Gomorrah»? What did God say? Well, God said, let’s see, what God said. (v.26) «The LORD said, 'If I find Sodom fifty within the city, I will spare the whole place.' And Abraham replied (just to be sure), 'LORD, what if fifty righteous are lacking five? '» What did God say? Will you destroy this place? God said, (v.28) «'I will not destroy it if I find forty-five there.'» Now Abraham was thinking (Abraham, his wife.) Alright Lord, what about 40? You know what God said? «I will spare the city». And then Abraham said, «Lord, this is embarrasing…» This is the Tagalog version of my Bible. «Lord, this is embarrassing, but what about 30»? «I will spare the city».
I want you to see the heart of God. God is loving. «Lord, what about 20»? God said, «No problem, I’ll spare 20». «Lord, Lord, Lord, Lord. Okay, this is the last Lord, what if there are 10»? You know what God said? I want to show you that verse. You may not believe me. If there are ten, (v.32) «Oh, may the LORD not be angry, I shall speak only this once; suppose ten are found there? ' 'I will not destroy it on account of the ten.'» You and I know what is Sodom and Gomorrah famous for, right? It’s famous for what? What kind of sin? The sin that people are afraid to talk about. Sin of homosexuality, sin of immorality. You know what God said, «I will spare the city». And you know what happened? Read the next verse. God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah because there was not even 10 righteous people.
So the Bible tells us, (Genesis 19:27) «Abraham rose early in the morning and went to the place where he stood before the LORD; he looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the valley, and he saw, and behold, the smoke of the land ascended like the smoke of the furnace». Why did Abraham get up early in the morning? He was hoping against hope that God will spare Sodom and Gomorrah. But God did understand the heart of Abraham while he did not spare Sodom and Gomorrah, who did He spare? Aha! Let’s read this. (v.29) «It came about when God destroyed the cities of the valley, God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow».
In other words, God saved who? Lot and his family. Sometimes God answers our prayer in mysterious ways, but you can be rested. Is God good? Yes or no? And last, surrender. You have to surrender everything to God. What do I mean? This is the last test of Abraham. The Bible tells us the reality of complete surrender. You know the world does not like the word 'surrender'. You know why? The world thinks surrender is being weak. But in the Christian language, in God’s economy, when you surrender, you become strong. In the world, surrender is bad, but for a believer, to surrender is to become strong. Why? When you surrender, you are recognizing who the Boss is. Surrender to God. Lord, You are the Boss. You own everything. I give You my life. I give You my future. I surrender everything to You.
How many of you like tests? You like tests? How many of you don’t like tests? Raise your hands. Okay? How many of you will never raise your hand? You know, I don’t like tests, but I want you to learn the reality of the Christian life. Your faith muscle cannot grow apart from testing. No way will your Christian life grow apart from testing. Look at James chapter one. Let’s read that together. (v.1) «Consider it all joy, my brethen, when you encounter various trials» Same word, 'peirasmos', various testing. Consider it all joy. My goodness, this is so counterintuitive. You want me to be happy? That’s what the Bible says. Why? Look at the purpose of God. (v.3) «knowing that the testing of your faith».
Notice the same word, testing, trial, same word, of your faith. Notice faith. Your faith is being tested, how you respond. Some of you I know, are going through hard times. When I was in Australia, I met a leader. He told me, honestly, he said, «Peter, in the last two years, I lost my daddy. I lost my mom and I lost my only brother». In short, he lost everybody. He has no more family in the Philippines, close family. I said, «How did you do»? You know, I praise God for his attitude. You know, you can endure. You can finish strong when you put your faith in God. Faith in God’s promises no matter what. Can you repeat? Faith in God’s promises, one more time, Faith in God’s promises no matter what.
Look, (v.4) «Let endurance have its perfect result so that you may be perfect, complete, lacking in nothing». God is very concerned with your character. My character, God is very concerned with the character of Abraham. That’s why God tested Abraham. What was the test? Let’s go back, let’s look at Genesis chapter 22:1. It came about after so many years, (Genesis 22:2) «God tested Abraham and God said, 'Take now your son, your only son'» But Abraham had another son. Remember he had another son. By the name of Ishmael. But God says, «No, your only son». As far as God is concerned, it’s got to be the son of promise, Isaac. (v.2) «'Take him to land of Moriah, offer him as a burnt offering on one of the mountains, which I will tell you.'»
Now everybody, I want you to see, what will you do if you are Abraham? Friends, you and I don’t live by explanation. We live by trusting in what God’s promises. How can you know God’s promises when you don’t even read the Bible? How many of you have read the entire Bible completely? Raise your hand. You see, everybody, why are you not reading the Bible? It is because you have fallen into the trap of Satan. Satan does not want you to know the promises of God. He does not want you to read the Bible. Therefore, many Christians are shallow. They do not finish well because their faith is not anchored on God’s promises. Many times your faith is anchored on feelings. You go to a church, you want to be excited. You want to be excited by the music. You want to be excited by the preaching.
My friend, that kind of Christianity will not last. You have to anchor your faith. Based on who God is, based on His promises. That means obedience. That means you’re rested, and that means you surrender all! Do you know God wanted Abraham to surrender Isaac? Why Isaac? Nothing wrong with Isaac, but this is the problem. Abraham had been waiting for Isaac and God knows if Isaac becomes the number one joy and love of Abraham, he will not finish well. You need to learn to surrender your Isaac. You must differentiate God’s blessing and the one who blesses. You must differentiate the gift from the Giver. Don’t put your faith on the gift. Don’t put your faith on Isaac. You put your faith in who? God!
Now many of us have Isaacs. Isaacs are something good. It is not bad. Your children are good, but if you make them ahead of God, it becomes a snare. It’s called idolatry. Nothing wrong with a wife, but if you love your wife more than you love God, you got to surrender that. why? That’s called idolatry. Nothing wrong with business. Many of us, praise God, you have good businesses, but once you prioritize business over God, we are guilty of idolatry. So my question to all of you is this, what’s your Isaac? And God is saying, surrender that. God told Abraham to offer his son as an offering. But look at the faith of Abraham. «I and the lad will go over and we will worship and return». (v.6) «Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, laid it on Isaac his son»
In short, Isaac was not a little boy. Josephus tells us, Isaac, by this time, was at least 25 years old. From the time God granted Abraham Isaac, they had been living together. Abraham had been discipling his son. His son is now at least 25. Others scholars say 30 or 33, does not matter. All I’m telling you is this Isaac was no longer a boy. He could carry the wood. He laid it on Isaac, his son. He was a strong boy. He was a strong man. (v.6) «And he took his hand, the fire and the knife. The two of them walked together». To me, it’s a beautiful picture of father and son. They walked together. Now, here’s the amazing thing. The next verse tells us, Isaac talked to the father, (v.7) «'Father! ' 'Here I am, my son.' 'Behold the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb? '»
Is that a good question to ask? Yeah. Abraham said, notice a statement of faith. (v.8) «'God will provide for Himself the lamb, for the burnt offering, my son.'» Abraham had no idea how to answer that question. He simply said that God will provide. Look at the faith of Abraham. You may think if you were Abraham, it’s impossible for you to offer your son as an offering. But can I tell you something? What do you think is impossible? Look at Hebrews 11 verse 17, that’s the reason. (v.17) «By faith Abraham, when he (everybody read) when he was tested, offered up Isaac, he who had received the promises was offering up his only begotten son». Why did Abraham, why was he willing to offer up Isaac? Answer: (v.18) «It was he to whom it was said, 'IN ISAAC YOUR DESCENDANTS SHALL BE CALLED».
Everybody read now. (v.19) «He considered that God is able to raise people even from the dead, from which he also received him back as a type». What was in the mind of Abraham? Very simple. If God promised that my descendants will come from Isaac, and now He wants me to offer Isaac. Isaac will have to die. But if Isaac were to die, how will God fulfill His promise? Abraham does not know how. He simply left the consequences to God! You see, in life, many times, I cannot explain to you why you’re having problems. I cannot explain to you how God will solve your problems. But one thing I know, God is faithful, and you trust Him, and you leave the consequences to God!
Do you understand now why for some people, obedience is a bit easier than other Christians? Because if you don’t know God, you don’t know His faithfulness, you will a hard time obeying. That’s why to me, that test of real faith is obedience. And you cannot obey somebody you don’t trust. And you cannot trust somebody you don’t know. And you will not know God unless you obey and study the Bible. Did God know Abraham will offer up Isaac? Yes or no? Louder? Yes. But did Abraham know he was willing to offer up Isaac? Until it was tested, Abraham may not even know his own heart. Abraham now understands, God is my number one love and he offered up Isaac and because he offered up Isaac, what happened? Look at the Bible. God provided something. Genesis 22:13 «Abraham raised his eyes and looked, behold behind a ram, caught in the thicket; and Abraham went and took the ram, offered him up for a burnt offering in the place of his son».
Notice 'in the place of his son'. He called the place 'Jehovah Jireh', meaning God will provide. I want you to consider Isaac. What will make Isaac submit himself to be tied and to be placed on the altar? If I were Isaac honestly, I will run, and I think I can run faster than the old man. But Isaac did not run. Why? Can I tell you? Abraham must have discipled his son so well, that Isaac knew that he is the promised son. Isaac knew that he’s going to have children. How can he have children when he’s killed?
So, no matter what, Isaac knew God is going to do something. I do not know how. I do not know what. I will just surrender. I’ll just surrender. Friends, that’s what you need to learn, to surrender your Isaac, to surrender everything to the Lord. Amen? If God is speaking to you and you have never surrendered your life, you have never given your life completely over to Jesus, you will never experience God’s goodness. With your heads bowed down, I’d like you to know, while the cost of obedience can be costly, but the cost of disobedience is greater. The cost of disobedience is you will never know the blessing that you will experience, until you obey. So I want you to obey today where God commands you to surrender your life to His Son, Jesus, as your Lord and Savior. If that’s your desire, will you raise your hands? I want to pray for you. You want to surrender your life completely to Jesus. Yes. Praise God! I want to pray for you. Okay?
So wherever you are, stand up. Okay? Wherever you are, you want to surrender your life completely to Jesus. Surrender your all. If you have not done it today, if you have not done it before, but now you want to surrender your all. Praise God! Anybody else stand up. You know, God is asking you, are you willing to surrender your all? Now, if some of you have Isaacs you have not surrendered, why don’t you surrender that also? Okay? Anybody else? You want to surrender your all to Jesus. Okay? Before I start praying, it’s never too late. I know you are fighting in your seat right now. Some of you are struggling. Will I surrender? Will I not surrender? I’m telling you, you have everything to gain, nothing to lose, when you surrender to the One who loves you, to the One who died on the cross in your place! He took your place.
Jesus had no substitute. He was the sacrifice. Anybody else? Right now, pray this prayer with me wherever you are, those, especially those of you who are standing, Lord Jesus, I surrender my all to You. I trust You today completely, no matter what. You promised to forgive my sins. You promised to save me. You promised to give me eternal life. Lord, I surrender my all to Your loving care. With your heads bowed down, I want you to also to surrender your Isaacs. Some of you have Isaacs in your life. It can be money, it can be a relationship.
Well, if you want to surrender your Isaacs, I want you to stand up also. Praise God! Anybody else? Isaacs you are holding on to. You have not surrendered your Isaacs. It can be something good, it can be a good relationship, but God is saying, «Surrender that to Me». It can be a boyfriend, a girlfriend, it can be a career. It can be your ambition. God is asking you, «Have you surrendered that to Me»? If you have not, stand up, I want you to surrender that to Jesus today. Anybody else? You’re holding on to your Isaac. You have not surrendered your Isaac. Isaac may not be sinful. It may not be sin. It is something good, but God is saying, «You give that up. You surrender that to me. It is causing you to not grow spiritually». It is making an idol. You are making an idol in your heart. Praise God! Anybody else? I want you to stand up, surrender your idols wherever you are, your Isaacs. We need to surrender our Isaacs.
Lord Jesus, including myself, I come before You. Some of us may not even know there are Isaacs in our lives, but help us because the spiritual life is a journey, so will You honor the desire of Your people here as they surrender their Isaacs to You. Father God, let them know that You always have something better for each one of us. In Jesus' name we all pray. Amen and amen!