Faith that Believes in Resurrection

0:00Morning. When I uploaded the sermon from last week, I noticed that I preached too long, maybe. It was over 40 minutes, which is not typical for me. So my apologies for last week for preaching so long. I'll try not to do that again this week, but I mean, you know, if the Lord is if the Lord is is uh is speaking through his word, maybe I shouldn't put a time limit on it. So anyway. Go ahead and turn to Hebrews. That's where we are. Uh chapter 11. We got three verses this morning, verse 17, 18, and 19. If I've said this once, I've said it a hundred times, and I probably to this point have said it a hundred times. Uh the New Testament is the best interpreter of the Old Testament. Or we could say scripture interprets uh scripture. The New Testament is the best interpreter of the Old Testament. When we have trouble with the deepest meaning or the essential meaning of an Old Testament text, it's always best to see, if at all possible, how the New Testament treats it. We have these magical devices that we carry around with us in our pocket at any time that you can say, ask Google or whoever, is this Old Testament passage referenced anywhere in the New Testament? And you will have with you a plethora of information about how the New Testament treats any Old Testament passage. This is what you should do, because the New Testament is the best interpreter of the Old Testament. Now I have said it a hundred times. The passage on Abraham and the command to uh sacrifice Isaac, if not interpreted through the lens of or allowing the New Testament to speak into it, can be taken very far astray. I have heard it interpreted that section, the Abraham and Isaac sacrifice, uh, demonstrates faith without reason, that faith is not reasonable and that we should just blindly trust in God. I've heard it used as a principle on morality, or a clarification on morality, that morally good people simply obey God no matter what. Right? That's a it's a um a clarification on morality. In the negative, we've certainly heard it used as this passage demonstrating God's cruelty, right? That he manipulated Abraham by this cruel test, right? That God is cruel and manipulative. We've seen even that Abraham is harsh and cold, that he would just sacrifice his son because God tells him to, right? But we can go very quickly astray in looking at this passage if we don't read again how the New Testament interprets it. We certainly should trust and obey God, even when we can't logically work out all the details of what we're being asked to do by God's word, but we will see that Hebrews makes clear in that story and in our passage this morning that faith and the gospel are the point. The essence of faith, the clarification of the gospel, that is the point. And God was working then, even in those days of Abraham, to establish and to demonstrate the depths of faith. He was establishing and demonstrating the content of our faith. And perhaps this is a minority position. I hope not, or certainly a minority focus, but this test, and I mentioned this when we went through the book of Genesis, but this test was not about God gaining some knowledge about Abraham. This test was not about God gaining some knowledge that he didn't already have about Abraham. Psalm 139, verse 4. Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O Lord, you know it all together. God did not need to test Abraham to find out something about him. Rather, this test that we will talk once again about this morning draws out the depths of Abraham's faith and it puts God's purpose on display for us. It puts it on display. The spoiler, then, this morning is that the faith of Abraham, our faith, is, must be a faith that believes in a God who resurrects the dead. And that is the title for our sermon this morning: Faith that resurrects the dead. Taking notes and you want to jot down these points. Faith believes in resurrection. Faith believes in resurrection. Faith believes in God's provision. And faith looks to God's sacrifice. Faith believes in resurrection. Faith believes in God's provision. Faith looks to God's sacrifice. That's where we're headed this morning, from Hebrews 11, so stay in with me. Let's read Hebrews 11, verse 17 to 19. By faith, Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was in the act of offering up his only son, of whom it was said, Through Isaac shall your offspring be named. He considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead, from which, figuratively speaking, he did receive him back. This is the word of the Lord. Lord, as always, we thank you for your word. Lord, please speak to us about resurrection this morning. It is in the name of Jesus I pray. Amen. Faith believes in resurrection. Faith believes in resurrection. I intentionally left out the definite article the there, not saying faith believes in the resurrection, but rather faith believes in resurrection. I want the focus then on resurrection to be not resurrection as an event or a singular thing, but as a promise, as a provision of God. Resurrection is a promise. It is a promise and a provision of God. Our faith is a resurrecting faith. That believes in a resurrecting God. Who by his grace brings things as good as dead, or in our case, actually dead spiritually, back to life. By his grace, he brings things that are as good as dead back to life. Those of you who are familiar with the Declaration of Independence, which I'm sure all of you are, maybe you've read it, there is the first few lines of the Declaration of Independence, not the first lines, but near the first lines, say, we hold these truths to be self-evident. You know the line? We hold these truths to be self-evident. What are they saying when the writers of the Declaration of Independence said we hold these truths to be self-evident? That there are certain things that should be plain without extensive explanation or truth, some basis by which we launch the rest of the dissertation on. The common ground, the starting point. These are the truths that are self-evident. There are some self-evident truths in our text this morning. Those are. That is one of the two truths that are self-evident in our text, and referring back to Genesis. God promised Abraham a covenant heir, and that covenant heir was Isaac. This we cannot deny. That is a self-evident truth. Secondly, God commanded Abraham to sacrifice this promised covenant heir. Again, that is a plain self-evident truth from the text. Isaac was the covenant promise heir, and God asked Abraham to sacrifice that promised heir. We can speculate all we want as to the motives of God and his intentions in testing Abraham there. But I want to go as far as, or I only want to go as far as Scripture goes here. To that end, I'll say this: if Isaac was the promised heir, and he was, the one through which God's people would come ultimately, and God is also asking Abraham to sacrifice that same son, what must be going through his mind? If those two truths are self-evident, what then is going through Abraham's mind? We don't have to speculate what was going through his mind. Verse 19 of Hebrews 11 tells us what is going through his mind. Verse 19 from our text this morning, I know we're going a little out of order, says this, he considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead, from which, figuratively speaking, he did receive him back. He considered, the text says. That is, he worked it out in his mind, to use a theme that is ever present on us today. He meditated on God's words to him, and through those self-evident truths that God revealed to him, he concluded that the only explanation to this seemingly paradoxical command is that God has the power over life and death. And if he asks me to sacrifice my son, surely he will bring him back to life. Surely he will bring him back to life. And this is not so much then a revelation about Abraham's character, but a revelation about the power and the purpose of God. God is using this story, God is writing this story to communicate to us his truth. God is revealing his character. In much the same way, if we were to read something like the parable of the workers in the vineyard, I don't know exactly what it's called. I think maybe it's referred to differently in different gospels. But if we were to take away the parable of the workers in the vineyards that receive the wage for different hours worked and all that, and we we conclude somehow some moral principle that we should be fairer to our workers or pay them more, or something like that. We miss the point, right? The point is that God will have mercy on whom he'll have mercy, and he'll have compassion on whom he will have compassion. God communicates his nature, his character, his truth, his purpose through these events. Again, I say this is not so much a revelation of Abraham's character, but a revelation of the power and purpose of God. This revelation is a foreshadowing of Christ in the gospel. It's not a declaration of independence, but a declaration that faith believes God as a resurrector of life. Faith believes God as a resurrector of life, much like Ezekiel saw in these valley of dry bones that were given life again. Faith believes that God can resurrect even in a rebellion. Faith believes that God can resurrect dead bones back to life. And this faith then isn't blind either. It's not blind. It can't be blind because the text says there in verse 19, he considered. He considered it. I'm going to do my best to pronounce this Greek word. Logis amenos is that word considered in Greek. Same root that we get our word logic from. It means to reckon, to compute, to count, to calculate. Abraham calculated these things. Abraham calculated. He reckoned that God was able to raise Isaac from the dead. True faith, then, by the grace of God, looks at his revelation and it reckons, it concludes that yes, indeed, God can raise the dead. True faith looks at his revelation, looks at even your own life and where you have come from, and can conclude, must conclude that yes, indeed, God can raise the dead. Those as good as dead and be brought to new life again. This is why all of our creeds and confessions include a belief in the resurrection. Without faith in a resurrection, there is no faith. Say that again. Without faith in a resurrection, there is no faith. Without believing in a God who raises the dead, there is no salvation. We confess in a God who resurrects the dead. And consider also then this is a faith believing in God's provision. Consider the first half of that story in Genesis, right? This story. We all know the story well enough. Right before they go up to the mountain, he has his men with him, and Abraham says to his men, stay with the donkeys, we'll be right back. Essentially what Abraham does to them. And he says that, knowing what he has been asked to do, right? He's trusting in the resurrection. We've already seen that the writer of Hebrews, the same writer, right, Holy Spirit who's speaking to us way back in Genesis, right, tells us that Abraham is trusting in the resurrection. He's trusting in a God who can bring the dead back to life. And he's trusting in the provision of God to provide a better sacrifice. He's trusting in God to provide a better sacrifice. And he confirms that with his words to Isaac. And Isaac says to him, where's the sacrifice? I don't see it here, which Abraham says God Himself will provide the lamb. True faith trusts in the provision of God's sacrifice. True faith trusts in the provision of God's sacrifice, and this is wholly different from every other religion in existence. That want us to climb some spiritual ladder and to earn our way to God. That call us in the East, Eastern religions, to work our way up through these means of reincarnation. Every time we live, we get a little better and a little better, and eventually we'll reach some form of deity. The Islam prove their faithfulness through jihad, through killing for their God. The American religions feel like they're going to get to God by living a good enough life, being a good enough person, perhaps giving enough money to charities or whatever. A true God is different than that. He will himself provide the lamp. He will himself provide the sacrifice. He will himself provide the offering. He will himself provide the righteousness. It is not communicating specifically and primarily that Abraham was willing to sacrifice his son so that I can come here this morning and say, now go and sacrifice to the Lord and give everything to him and do your best to live this righteous life. This story, really the whole chapter of Hebrews, it's not about the heroism of these people. It's not about the heroism of Abraham, but rather the faithfulness and provision of God through faith. Our God is not a God who takes our children from us. But rather, he is a God who gives us his own son. He is a God who sacrifices for us. Who lays down his life for us. What is man that you are mindful of him? The son of man that you care for him. Interestingly, that passage, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him? Psalm 8 is used in Hebrews 2 to communicate that although we don't presently see everything in subjection to Christ, we clearly see that it is Christ who suffered in his lowly estate, that he might taste death for everyone. Hebrews 2 then concludes with the reality that our salvation is predicated on the sacrificial life of Christ given for you. This is the golden thread that runs all the way back to Abraham, all the way back to Genesis, that God will provide the offering. God will provide the sacrifice, the Lord will provide. And if He provides for your greatest need, Your salvation, your resurrection, your eternal life, won't he also give you everything else? Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and all else will be added to you. Faith looks then to God's sacrifice. Faith looks to God's sacrifice. That of course connects with Romans 8, verse 32. He who did not spare his own son, but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Faith looks to God's sacrifice. We cannot miss the clear connection to Christ that leaps from the pages of Hebrews 11, 17 to 19, going back to Genesis 22. Isaac's life was spared by God's mercy. Isaac's life was spared purely by God's mercy. But he did not spare his own son. Isaac carried a pile of wood up the mountain, where he would be laid down as a sacrifice. But he did not have to be that sacrifice. Christ carried the wood up Calvary, where he was nailed to be our sacrifice. Isaac was received back from the dead, our text says, figuratively speaking, but Christ, the Lamb of God, was slain in reality and was received back from the dead in reality. And I think the use of that figuratively language, where it says there figuratively speaking, was to demonstrate that because Christ died in our place and was raised again in reality, our death, just like Isaac's, is figurative in nature. Colossians 1, 18, the firstborn. Christ is the firstborn of the dead. Isaiah 25, he swallowed up death forever. Hosea 13, he will ransom us from the power of the grave. 2 Timothy 1, he has abolished death. Revelation 21, there shall be no more death. John 11. And 25, I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in me shall never die. The faith of Abraham looking to God's sacrifice is made complete for us, having seen the thing in which Abraham hoped for. Right? The faith of Abraham looking to God's sacrifice is made complete in us, having seen the thing in which Abraham hoped for in that moment, which was the Lamb, has been provided. Death has been conquered. The blessed promise is coming to pass just as God said it would. O Hades, where is your victory? The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law, but thanks be to God who gives us the victory through Jesus Christ, our Lord. The story of Abraham and Isaac is not a story about a father's blind obedience. This is a story about God the Father's plan of salvation. By the giving of his only Son, He does what no sacrifice Abraham could give ever could do. He kills death. He gives life to all who trust in him. He gives life to all who believe in him. Gives life to all who have faith in him. Faith in rests in the hope of resurrection, of new life in him. Faith hopes in this substitutionary atonement of Christ, being the sacrifice for us. Christ is the hope of resurrection. Christ is the substitutionary provision by which we live and will live forever. Abraham only saw a shadow. But he trusted. We see the full, glorious picture. God raises the dead because he raised Christ from the dead. He will raise you. God provides the sacrifice because he provided the sacrifice. Life, faith often feel like a mountain that is too steep to climb, and at a cost that is, as Abraham demonstrated, unbearable to pay. Look to Christ. Church, look to Christ. We must not give up. We must not give in. As we saw last week, we must not turn back. We must continually walk in faith and obedience to Him. Because we can conclude, we can deduce, we can logically infer that God, this God that we read about, that we believe in, that we have faith in, is worthy. He's worthy. Our Savior is worthy of that. So we look to God who resurrects the dead. And as he did with Abraham, so he will continually do with you. The Lord will provide for you. Our God is a God who brings the dead back to life. Our God is a God who brings the dead back to life. Our God is the God of resurrection. Amen. Lord, we thank you for your word. We thank you for these truths that you have given in us, given to us in your word, Lord. That you have revealed to us the essence of our faith, Lord, is to believe in you who bring dead back to life. Who provides for us? Lord is not asking us to earn our way to you. Who has sacrificed for us? What is man that you are mindful of him? Lord, who are we that you would sacrifice for us, Lord? Who are we that you would require nothing of us but our faith and trust in you? But we thank you, Lord. May that be our confession this morning that we believe in a God who raises the dead, Lord. We believe in the future resurrection. Where we will live forever. And that though we die only figuratively speaking, we will live forever with you. It is in the name of our Savior I pray. Amen.