Faith Requires Sacrifice

The Bible recognizes 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. - A.W. Tozer

And from that sacrifice is produced in us. That as we strive in our faith to be obedient, sacrifice must be the result.

Prayer

Living By Faith Calls to us to Step Out of our Comfort Zones.

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Abraham-

Reminder- Abraham lived out obedience.....

By faith, he went without even knowing where he was going.......surely being laughed at by those around him.

Verses 9 and 10 point out 3 things: 1. His faith was passed on to his family.

1. His faith was passed on to his family.

2. His faith was tenacious.

3. His faith pointed him beyond this world. Which is something that God wants us to continually realize. This world is not our home. The author of Hebrews wants us to see that. ,

Stepping out in faith does not require perfection or mean you will not stumble along the way.

Time and time again, Abraham stepped out in faith as he was called by God.

Time and time again, Abraham stepped out in faith as he was called by God. But remember Abrahams journey. He did not always do it right but he remained faithful to following God.

Often times we don’t do things because of the fear messing up......

Offering Isaac- This was supposed to first among many. Offering his one and only son.....

John 3:16 CSB

For God loved the world in this way: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.

Verse 19-Don’t miss this connection. Isaac was an only son, was to be sacrificed, was returned to Abraham(figuratively resurrected) which restored life to the promise-This moment God was pointing us towards what was to come. God was able to raise someone from dead.....Isaac was the firstborn of nations but the one and only son that went on to be sacrificed was the king of all nations.

Abraham showed us in the midst of inner conflict what it means to be tested and how our response to the testing should be-He knew God was faithful and had made this promise.

And we see that his good works justified his faith, as our faith without good works is dead-

James 2:21–24 CSB

Wasn’t Abraham our father justified by works in offering Isaac his son on the altar? You see that faith was active together with his works, and by works, faith was made complete, and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness, and he was called God’s friend. You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone.

We can believe all we want but if our faith does not drive us to DO good how deep is that faith really?

Isaac- ,

Jacob-

Joseph-

Our emphasis here is about the faith of Isaac, Jacob and Joseph that they showed at the end of their lives. They each faced looming death in confident faith. And trusted, submitted, believed and obeyed.

Because of the blessings that God bestowed, we see that faith continued to be passed on from generation to generation.

Isaac blessed both of his sons with wisdom and truth. This was the same faith that Abraham had passed on to him.

We see the same from Jacob. As he was dying, Jacob blessings his son through his grandsons. And that same faith that had been passed on continued to be.

Joseph spent all of his adult life in Egypt. At this point, he was the fourth generation of God’s promise, yet to be fulfilled. But he had faith that it would happen and his people would be freed.

How patient are we to wait on God’s timing in our life?

These three believed when it wasn’t easy to believe. Their journeys were all riddled with failures, as well success’. But at the end of life, we see their true character. We see how real that faith was for them.

John MacArthur says:

“A Christian who fears death has a serious weakness in his faith, for to die in Christ is simply to be ushered into the Lord’s presence.”

For to live is Christ.....

Death is swallowed up in victory.

Questions: How often in our day to day do we stop to bless others by speaking truth into their lives and offering up prayers on their behalf? How often are we doing that in the lives of our families? Or do we find ourselves being negative focusing on the wrong things?

Jacob-

Moses-

We now see the second of two of the more prominent figures in the O.T.

Abraham received the promise and Moses received the law.

Two Features we see here-

No Ordinary Child-

No Fear

Important note coming

Our Faith conquers our Fears

The more we live in faith, the more our fears fade away.

Our Faith conquers our Fears

We see that fearlessness continue as Moses grew up, leaving the comforts of his living situation and instead living among the people of God, which was a life of suffering.

Like Abraham, Moses was called on by God to step out in faith.

Think about this for a moment. Moses stepped away from luxurious living to live in poverty and to be treated poorly.....how do you think this decision was viewed by those around him? By the Egyptians? By the Israelites?

There was this realization for Moses that material things don’t last, but the spiritual treasures do.

Verse 26- How could Moses endure for the sake of Christ if Christ hadn’t come? Not a bad question...

The implication here that the writer is making is that by identifying with the people of God and sharing their hardships Moses identified also with Christ, who sacrificed all and experienced the ultimate in hardships.

And during all of this for Moses-

By Faith, left Egypt because fear did not dissuade him.

By Faith, he instituted the passover and preserved his people.

By Faith, they crossed the Red Sea and were protected.

Think about the obstacles ahead of Moses in these instances..........

His faith overcame his fear and He lived by faith in a God he could not see.

What a lesson for us in this.

The Israelites(29-30)-,

Though Moses led the people, the nation of Israel displayed faith as they traveled through the Red Sea. Moses faith surely inspired the people.

Now, there faith would also stumble as we would later see them quarreling and being disobedient

By Faith, the people of Israel would go on to win battles, endure persecution and eagerly look towards the promise of their forefathers.

Joshua stepping out in faith led the people to circle Jericho for seven days.

How that must of looked......

God can do, what to humans is, the impossible

Rahab-

By Faith, Rahab had heard the mighty things of God and instead of rejecting the Israelite spies, she welcomed them, assisted them and returned them safely.

James 2:15 ESV

If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food,

James 2:25 CSB

In the same way, wasn’t Rahab the prostitute also justified by works in receiving the messengers and sending them out by a different route?

Her works showed her faith and she would become a part of a lineage that would bring about Christ.

Matthew 1:5–6 CSB

Salmon fathered Boaz by Rahab, Boaz fathered Obed by Ruth, Obed fathered Jesse, and Jesse fathered King David. David fathered Solomon by Uriah’s wife,

Matthew 1:

Many have stepped out in faith......

The list goes on as you will see next- as 6 other faithful servants are named all from the book of Judges.

Verse 32-

The list goes on as you will see next week- as 6 other faithful servants are named 4 from the book of Judges.

Questions: How have you stepped out in faith recently? Does your faith inspire those around you?

Our Obedience through Faith should result in Sacrifice

Abrahams faith showed us that what we are often looking for.....proof.

How do we know if someone has faith?

Abraham exhibited proof by his willingness to give back to God everything he had, even the son of promise that he recieved because of his faith in the first place.

There was this realization for Abraham that everything he had was because of God and that everything he had was Gods, including his son.

How willing are we to view things in our lives this way?

Faith is powerful church!

Faith accomplishes the impossible!

Faith sees what cannot be seen!

The sad reality is that some faith is all talk and never leads to action.

True faith is all about action!

And to see this play out in our lives, it almost always requires sacrifice.

We must remember this is life is not our own. That we have been bought and paid for by the blood of Christ!

You may think that’s crazy. Why would i want to believe anything that means I’m “owned”. Because you being bought means you were bought from something and that something is eternal condemnation…Hell.

Trust me, you should rejoice that you have been bought by the shed blood of Christ.

Christ did not come to make bad people good.....He came to raise the dead to life.

So, remember, this life is not yours and for us to think our faith does not result in sacrifice is to have our focus completely off.

Galatians 6:13–14 ESV

For even those who are circumcised do not themselves keep the law, but they desire to have you circumcised that they may boast in your flesh. But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.

Galatians 6:1

Galatians 6:14 CSB

But as for me, I will never boast about anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. The world has been crucified to me through the cross, and I to the world.

This is all about Jesus. For us to think it’s about anything else is have our priorities very misplaced.

Church, if you seek to follow Jesus. If you desire to serve Him daily, your life must be one of sacrifice.

Luke 9:23 CSB

Then he said to them all, “If anyone wants to follow after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow me.

Church, if you seek to follow Jesus. If you desire to serve Him daily, your life must be one of sacrifice.

Taking up our cross means.......

Questions: How do you sacrifice daily? Really, truly, meaningfully sacrifice. And if you aren’t, what needs to happen?

Does Christ’s sacrifice encourage you to take up your cross daily? Does it encourage you to sacrifice?

Do not be mistaken, the testimonies we have seen this morning were founded in faith that resulted in obedience and sacrifice.

Sacrifice for Christ is much harder than we probably realize as flesh continues to yearn for what we want.

Jim Peterson in his book, Living Proof uses this illustration-

Three elements of personality are involved in making a decision to become a Christian, or in making any significant decision for that matter. They are the emotions, the intellect, and the will.

For example, a young man meets a young woman. They are immediately attracted to one another. They both say to themselves, "Now there is someone I'd like to marry." At that point, if the emotions had their way, there would be a wedding. But the intellect intervenes, questioning the impulsive emotional response. Would we be compatible? What is she really like? Can I afford to support her? Both conclude it would be better to take some more time and answer a few questions before they proceed. So the two begin spending more time with each other. He eventually concludes that she is as beautiful on the inside as she is on the outside. Now his intellect has sided with the emotions on the idea of marriage.

But the final and heaviest vote remains to be cast -- that of the will. It stops the march toward the altar with the questions, "Am I willing to give up this lifestyle for another? What about my freedom -- is it worth the trade? Am I willing to assume the added responsibility?" The marriage will occur only when the will finally agrees with the emotions and the intellect. And so it is in coming to Christ.

Not only are we torn to even surrender to follow Christ in the first place, but our lives are riddled with distraction, desires, opinions, and worldly thoughts that say to us sacrificing to follow Jesus isn’t worth it.

Many think, I can be a believer in Jesus, believe in what He did, believe that He is the Savior of all, the Risen King but still see no need to sacrifice daily.

We have been numbed to the things of this world. We get so caught up in earthly culture that we have in many ways forsaken our eternal culture. We complain, we ridicule, we “critique”, we want a say....church, this world is in desperate need of Christ. We do not have time for such things. It is all his anyway.

Often times we can think that things are worse now more than ever…do not be fooled. Sin is sin and has been since the moment humanity fell. How arrogant of us to think such things? Do we not realize that God still reigns? That He is still active in our world? That he has already won! Do not be mistaken here and think that there is anything we can do in this grand scheme except focus on the one that makes life possible. Surrender to Him, Focus on Him, Worship Him, Let others see Him in you.....

That is not what the scripture tells us, that is not what the lives of so many before have showed us.

Sacrifice is an essential part of our faith. It connects us directly to Christ in the most intimate of ways. And when we surrender to Him and focus completely on Him, the wordly distractions to Christian living become irrelevant.

Galatians 2:20 CSB

I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

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Have you surre

The first part of this though is to sacrifice by surrendering your life to Christ.......

Closing

Hebrews 13:15–16 CSB

Therefore, through him let us continually offer up to God a sacrifice of praise, that is, the fruit of lips that confess his name. Don’t neglect to do what is good and to share, for God is pleased with such sacrifices.

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The testimonies of others before us should urge us to live more obedient and sacrificial lives for Jesus Christ our Lord.

Why?

Because our life must be rooted in faith in Jesus.

This still applies:

We care far too much what others think of us instead of letting the Gospel of Christ motivate us.

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Jesus is our Savior, Jesus is our King.....Jesus is better than anything that this world has to offer.....Jesus is better.

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