The Healing Word

Guest (Male): The Healing Word ministry on One Place is brought to you by the generous donations of people like you. At any time during today's message, feel free to send a prayer request or make a donation using the links provided. Now, I pray you will be blessed as Pastor Jack Morris delivers a message from the word of God that will encourage and strengthen your faith in Him.

Pastor Jack Morris: It's a clear and important message. What is that clear and important message? The clear and important message here is God will test His people so that you and I can see what we're made of. I say a lot of things in sermon, and we say a lot of things in prayer, but somebody this week said to me, "You know, Pastor, after all is said and done, there's more said than done."

Guest (Male): Welcome to the Healing Word, a ministry dedicated to offering strength and encouragement through God's word for anyone facing life's challenges. Today's message is here to meet you at your point of need, bringing hope and renewing your faith. Now, here's Pastor Jack Morris.

Pastor Jack Morris: The story that was just read from Genesis chapter 22 is one of the strangest, most bizarre stories in the Bible. There's nothing quite like it. It's a story that causes us to think of Calvary and Jesus being sacrificed, God giving His only begotten Son. But this story about Abraham and the sacrifice of his son, this strange story, this bizarre story that causes us to read it and wonder, friend, listen to me. This story is not about Abraham and Isaac.

This story is about you. It's about me. This story is not a story of adversity. It's not a story that Abraham needs to rebuke the devil for doing this to me. God is doing this to me. That's the point I want to receive today and want to give to you today. This is not a story of adversity. This is not an attack from the devil. This is God commanding obedience.

However depressing and however much it gets you down and me down, you and I can't look to the enemy and say it's coming from the enemy. No, this is coming from heaven. There are some people today that are discouraged and down and depressed and out of victory, and they're all ready to stomp their foot at the devil. Friend, don't look down; look up. Your sadness is coming from the voice of God in heaven, and there's an attitude that's bouncing off God's perfect plan and causing you and me some problems.

That's why I prayed just a moment ago. God, give us an honest mind, an honest mind, an honest heart, that we will hear this story. How many times I've gone to this story and reflected on it, even here at the Largo Community Church. Here I come again. I have to come back because this is the story of the beginning of our faith and our relationship to the Lord.

It's a clear and important message. What is that clear and important message? The clear and important message here is God will test His people so that you and I can see what we're made of. We sing a lot of beautiful songs. When Colonel Patterson walked by me a moment ago, I told him I said, "Get the choir to sing that one again and do it soon." What a song. What an uplift. What an encouragement. I say a lot of things in sermon, and we say a lot of things in prayer, but somebody this week said to me, "You know, Pastor, after all is said and done, there's more said than done."

The real point of the story here is our obedience to the Lord. It's a story of not Abraham sacrificing Isaac, but Abraham sacrificing himself. We want the glory religion. We want the upbeat, the charismatic, on top, hallelujah religion. You know that kind of religion. I think you do. But there's a religion of truth here, and God is speaking to us. As the truth enters our hearts and we begin to do more and say less, the joy of the Lord will come and will bless us and bring happiness and joy to us.

Abraham was 75 years old when God called him from his homeland to be the father of the faith. Now, we can trace our faith, the Christian church, back to Judaism, back to David, back to Jacob, back to Isaac, back to Abraham. It all started with Abraham. Now, there were people who had faith before Abraham and exercised faith and believed in God, but Abraham is the father not only just of his faith but of all of our faith all the way to the Christian church.

It was a covenant that God made with him, and he made a particular promise to God. Listen, when you make a promise to God, God's going to hold you to it. You can be sure He's going to test you in that area to see if it's more said and less done. God now is testing Abraham. That was a great test that came to Abraham when he was 75 years old, but the greatest of all tests came to Abraham when he was 100 years old.

So look out, senior citizens. You're not off the hook. You haven't done your part until life is over. God calls the young and God calls the old. Abraham is 100 years old when he's called by God to make the most supreme of all sacrifices. Some of us have retired too early. I mean we've retired from our relationship with God and sacrifice and service. We'll say, "Oh, it's time for the younger people to do it."

Listen, are you still breathing? Are you able to get up and come to church? No, there is a service to give to God of worship, of praise, of obedience. Abraham is 100 years old. You're never too old to get busy and get on the first firing line for God. Get out there again in the trenches. Somebody wrote a poem. I don't know who wrote it, but I'm going to read it to you.

When I was a child, I laughed and wept. Time crept. When I was a youth, I dreamed and talked. Time walked. When I became a full-grown man, time flew. Soon I shall find, while traveling on, time is gone. You've got to do it when you can do it, when you still have time and while you're still breathing. That's the time to serve the Lord and to make those commitments to God.

God began the process of faith, the faith that you and I are enjoying now. God began that process all the way back with Abraham when God made a covenant with him. Now, 25 years later, Abraham was 75, now he's 100, 25 years later, the big test comes. Madame Guyon, the French mystic, said this. Listen to me. "Our faith is never really tested until God asks us to bear what seems unbearable, do what seems unreasonable, and expect what seems impossible."

Is God asking you to do something? When I was in Malaysia, that's one of the things my class of young pastors asked me one day. We had a relaxed moment, and they asked me, they said, "Dr. Morris, what is the most difficult experience you've ever experienced in your life?" I didn't expect a question like that. I thought, now you're getting a little personal. But I shared with them.

My mind went back, and I began to think of the trouble I had in my own heart, in my own life, with my own son. You saw him up here just a few weeks ago. He's serving the Lord today. Friend, I don't know where your test is going to come. You said, "I've already had mine." No, you did, but you're going to have some more. Now, if you die, that's different. But if you continue to live, you're going to have some more.

They're going to come not from the enemy, not from Satan, not from below. They're going to come from above. The devil will tempt people to sin, but God will test people to make them strong. God will bring a soul-stretching test to develop us spiritually. On point A, write down: God's word is now. Write down the word "word." No matter what God is asking you to do, and He's going to ask you to do things. He asks everyone to do things.

He doesn't ask you to do things once, but over and over throughout life. You're not off the hook. You're still breathing. God still has you in His sights. But the Apostle Paul said, "I can do all things through Christ who strengtheneth me." Listen, friend, God's not going to call upon you and me to do something that we can't do. He's going to call upon us to do things that He's going to empower us to do.

He's going to give us the time, the money, the energy, the wherewithal. He's never going to call upon us to do something that we can't do. The burden is never going to be that great that we're not going to be able to bear it for Him.

Guest (Male): We'll be back with the conclusion of today's message in just a moment. But first, here's an invitation for you to make an impact on reaching souls with God's word.

Pastor Jack Morris: Hello friends, I'm Pastor Jack Morris. I just wanted to take a moment to thank you for your prayers and your donations. In that order: prayers and donations. I need both from you. If this ministry is to continue, and I believe it's God's will for it to continue, I'm going to need your partnership more so than ever before. I thank God for you. I trust that the Healing Word is a blessing. Pray that God's word will go forth in mighty power to the saving of souls and to the healing of lives, emotions, and bodies. God bless you, dear ones, in Jesus' name. Amen.

Guest (Male): If the Healing Word has blessed you or someone you love, we invite you to prayerfully consider pledging your financial support. Simply visit thehealingword.com and click on "Donate Now" to make your tax-deductible contribution. Together, let's continue to share the beautiful blessings of God's word with a world in need.

Pastor Jack Morris: But God's word is now. Look at verse 2 of Genesis 22. Then God said, "Take your son." In the authorized version, there's another word there. It is, "Take now your son." Now, this is in the immediate. This is calling for immediate action even in our translation. "Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, to the region of Moriah and," what? "Sacrifice him there."

That's why I said this is the most bizarre thing I've ever read in all my life. I've never read anything like this. You'll never read anything quite like this in the Bible again. But Abraham is called upon to sacrifice his nearest and dearest. God will do the same. Listen to me, friends. Don't be surprised. I'm telling you now, your dearest and nearest. He did it to Abraham. He's the father of the faith.

Are you in the faith, the same faith Abraham is in? Then you're going to receive the same kind of test that Abraham received. Not that you sacrifice one of your children, but there are things that are near and dear to our hearts. The rich young ruler, it was money. When Jesus said, "Sell what you have and give to the poor," he hung his head and he walked away. He was just a lot of fluff, the rich young ruler.

He could sing the hymns. He could say the words. He could pray the prayers, but he couldn't do the thing that God asked him to do. He came up short. There's a lot of Christians today who are in the church, but they're embarrassed. They're hanging their heads. There's no joy in their life because they're not passing the test. They're getting a D-minus in their Christian walk. Still with me? Okay.

Somehow Abraham knew, somehow Abraham intuited, somehow by faith Abraham knew that God was going to do something and make a way. He waited on the Lord, but he waited on the Lord while he was obeying the Lord. Look at verse 5. He said to his servants, "Stay here with the donkey." Verse 4 says he found the place where God had sent him.

Verse 5: "Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come back." How did he know that? Because he had a listening ear, because he had an obedient heart, because he knew that God was smart and God knows what He's talking about and that we're to obey God. He says, "We're going to come back. I don't know how we're going to do it, but we're coming back. We're coming back."

Maybe God's going to raise him from the dead as a foreshadow of Jesus being raised from the dead. Notice it was on the third day. It speaks of resurrection. We're coming back. Friend, if you want out of your valley, if you want to be resurrected out of your valley, then please just obey what your conscience is telling you to do. God is speaking today and telling us what to do and when to do it. The time to do it is to do it now.

Say, "Do it now." Do it now. Do it now, and the blessing of God will come. One of the things that's so near and dear to people is their money, is their paycheck, is their tithes. Isn't it something that when we talk about that, everything gets hushed? That's why I know that's one of the most nearest and dearest things to us. It's one of the most difficult things for people to get involved in. It really is.

That's why I know it's so near and dear to our hearts. To relinquish it, to separate ourselves from it, it is hard. It's not easy to do. But if God has spoken, and He has, it's in His word. This Bible is never going to change. It's in His word, then we need to do it. I know people have said to me, "Pastor, you know, as soon as I get out of debt..." When are you going to get out of debt?

About 35 years from now when I get the mortgage off of me, or when I get the car payment off of me, or when I get my bills. No, you don't obey then; you obey this morning before 12 o'clock. I wasn't looking at my watch to see how long I'm preaching. I'm looking at my watch to see how long you're going to take to obey God and to do what you know you're supposed to do.

Someone says, "Well, Pastor, get over there to that place of blessing. Don't tell me about the sacrifice of the tithing. Get over there to that place in the Bible where it speaks about that shaken down, pressed together, running over blessing. Tell me about the reward." Friend, yes, yes, God will reward, but you don't give because you're going to get back.

As I've told you, I've taught my son and my daughter and my grandchildren to tithe their income, to tithe on their allowances. I remember years ago when I was teaching my daughter, and she said something about she got her first job and, "I'm going to tithe because I know God's going to bless me and I'm going to be able to get raises and I'm going to get ahead." She started, I listened to her and I said, "Rebecca, you don't tithe to get blessings.

You're going to get blessings, but that's not the reason you tithe your income." Well, why? What is the reason? Because God said so. Because God said so. Say that with me. Because God said so. That's the reason we obey the Lord, and then the blessing comes. You see, if you do it looking for a blessing, that isn't worship. Or if you do it because the church is in a building program and needs it, that isn't a blessing.

You do it because you love God. It comes out of your heart as an act of worship. If it doesn't come out of your heart as an act of worship, you might put in 10 percent, but it's not obedience and you're still going to be sad. So I'm not asking you today to give your money; I'm asking you today to give your heart. Do you understand there's a difference? There's a difference.

And the time to obey the Lord is now. This is the moment of obedience. Look at verse 5 in the text. He said, "Stay here with the donkey, we will come back to you." So Abraham took the wood, verse 6, for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac. He himself carried the fire and the knife, and the two of them went on. Then Isaac spoke up. I mean he was a smart boy.

"Father?" "Yes, my son," Abraham replied. "The fire and the wood are here, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?" Abraham answered, "God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son." God's going to do the work. This is God's work. Obedience is God's work, God's work in our hearts. And when they got to the place, you know the story, the angel stopped Abraham from sacrificing his son and they found the ram in the thicket.

You know the blessing of God and the promise of God always points to the Lamb. It always points to the sacrifice of His providing. Whatever you do in obedience, are you listening to me, all of you? Even though I'm looking this way, I'm speaking that way and this way too. Whatever you do, always remember this. Your gift, or your donation, or your tithe, or whatever it is, your service, whatever it is, it's got to point to the Lamb.

You've got to keep Jesus in mind and you must remember long before you ever gave, He gave. He set the supreme example. He really did. So obey the Lord. I want to tell you something that happened yesterday in the men's fellowship breakfast. And I have permission. I called Bert Foster last evening and talked to Bert, and I asked him, "Bert, can I tell the story that you told?"

It was the most timely message I think I've ever heard anywhere. It was right on the money, right on the money. There wasn't a man there that wasn't moved and touched. That message was so relevant. And so Bert got on the phone, he said, "Well, let me go to Martine and ask her," and I waited with the phone. He came back, he said, "You can tell the story." Bert, are you here? He usually comes. Where are you, Bert? Raise your hand. Somebody point. Where? Al, you pointed. Where?