When God’s Promises and Your Reality Collide | Tony Evans Highlight

Dr. Tony Evans shares how God often brings His people through difficult trials that seem contradictory, especially when they involve promises that have yet to be fulfilled. These tests are not only theological, biblical, emotional, and spiritual, but they also require complete trust in God’s character and past faithfulness. By obeying God, even in the face of these contradictions, believers can experience deeper encounters with Him, discover His provision, and witness the fulfillment of His promises in ways they never imagined. SUBSCRIBE: https://www.youtube.com/user/drtonyev… If you would like to download two encouraging, FREE full-length MP3s of Tony’s popular sermons: “The Sovereignty of God” and “How to Handle a Crisis,” you can do so by clicking on this link: https://share.hsforms.com/1atT9MJvXQN… If you would like to sign up for our daily devotional bringing you hope and inspiration, please go to this link: https://share.hsforms.com/1CkOLA910Sm… ▶ Do you know Jesus as your Savior? https://tonyevans.org/know-jesus-christ/ ▶ Stream Sermons: https://tonyevans.org/podcast/ ▶▶ Free Sermon App: https://subsplash.com/tonyevans/app/ ▶▶ DONATE: https://give.tonyevans.org/the-altern… ▶ Facebook:   / drtonyevans   ▶ Instagram:   / drtonyevans   ▶ Are you a preacher? Free sermon outlines: https://go.tonyevans.org/dr-tony-evan… Dr. Tony Evans is the founder and senior pastor of Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship in Dallas, founder and president of The Urban Alternative and author of over 100 books, booklets and Bible studies. The first African American to earn a doctorate of theology from Dallas Theological Seminary, he has been named one of the 12 Most Effective Preachers in the English-Speaking World by Baylor University. Dr. Evans holds the honor of writing and publishing the first full-Bible commentary and study Bible by an African American. His radio broadcast, The Alternative with Dr. Tony Evans, can be heard on over 1,400 radio outlets daily and in more than 130 countries. Dr. Evans’ sermons are also streamed and downloaded over 20,000,000 times annually. #tonyevans #tonyevanssermon #Trials

there are those who feel like God has

said something in his word or said

something to you years ago and nothing

has happened yet that is because you

must understand between God’s promise

and God’s oath is space in that space

between what he says he’s going to do

and when he’s actually going to do it is

a time when he’s getting the promise

ready for you and he’s getting you ready

for the

promise let me read the first two

verses of Genesis

22 now it came about after these things

that God tested

Abraham and said to Abraham and said to

him Abraham he said here I

am he said take now your son your only

son whom you love Isaac and go to the

land of Mariah and offer him there as a

burnt offering on one of the mountains

of which I will tell

you somebody say this is a

test that’s what he said God tested

Abraham so before I get any further let

me explain something when God wants to

give you an encounter with him it will

typically involve a test

right this is a test related to a

promise I’ll

explain this test

is unique because it involved a series

of

contradictions a

contradiction is When God says one thing

and appears to be doing

another number

one there was

a theological

contradiction you see God had promised

way back in Genesis 12 that he was going

to make a great nation out of Abraham

and it would come through the son of

Sarah whose name was Isaac God had made

a promise but here in Genesis chapter 22

God

tells Abraham to kill the

promise not only is it a theological

contradiction it is also a Biblical

contradiction cuz that’s

murder to offer yourself son on the

altar as a burnt offering means to kill

him and that’s murder but isn’t it you

God who said Thou shalt not kill isn’t

it you God who in Genesis 9:6 said If

any man kills another man he shall by

man be killed for man is created in the

image of God didn’t I hear you say that

well if you said that over here how you

asking me to kill him over here here uh

that’s a

contradiction involved in a test it’s

not only a theological contradiction

it’s not only a Biblical contradiction

it’s an emotional

contradiction cuz he says sacrifice your

son your only son and then he says whom

you

love my only son you’re asking me to

turn over and to even take his life

that’s killing my emotions

and worst of

all it’s a spiritual

contradiction because he says I want you

to offer him as a burnt offering which

is an act of worship that’s

Worship in fact he’s going to say I’m

going to

worship worshiping God in a

crisis he says I I want you to sacrifice

your son and

worship even though I’m calling on you

to make the biggest decision in your

life because when God wants to give you

an encounter with

him it will be a

test and the test will often involve

something that doesn’t make

sense what is ABE going to do cuz this

is certainly not something he wants to

do verse three says Abraham rose up

early in the morning saddled his Dunkey

took two of his young men with him and

Isaac his son and he split the wood for

the burnt offering and he arose and went

to the place which God had told

him it says when he was told to do this

thing that he didn’t want to do that

didn’t make sense he got up

early Hebrews chap 11:

17- 19

says Abraham offered up

Isaac and he considered that God was

able to raise him from the

dead in order to keep his promise did

you hear that the reason he got up

early is because he had such confidence

in God that even if it didn’t make sense

and even if he killed his son God would

get him up out the

grave see you have to have a bigger view

of God perly when he doesn’t make

sense he said because he believed that

God could raise him from the dead why

would Abraham believe that God could

raise the

dead Abraham was a hundred years old

when he had

Isaac Sarah was 90 years old when she

had Isaac

so Abraham is

figuring if God can bring life out of

death when I was a 100 years old and my

wife was 90 years old he can handle this

new situation as

well you have to learn to remember what

God did yesterday for the new stuff you

dealing with

today now that’s a problem if you’ve

never had God do anything for you

cuz you don’t have anything to remember

so this situation you’re in now is your

first

memory but those who walked with God and

who’ve been through a little something

something and then they coming up with

something new some new challenge some

new contradiction you can look back on

the stones of remembrance all right

Abraham is now going he tells the young

men The Lads the servants they here that

we coming

back he says in verse God will provide

for himself the lamb for the burnt

offering my son Isaac asked him well Dad

I see the fire I see the wood I see the

stuff to make the fire but I don’t see

any lamb every other time we went to

church we had the we had a

lamb but there’s no lamb

today he says

son only God can fix this

one now watch

this they come to to the place in verse

9 which God told

him and Abraham built an altar there

arranged the wood bound his son Isaac on

top of the wood and Abraham stretched

out his hand and took the knife to slay

his son can you imagine what he’s

thinking and feeling right now because

this doesn’t make

sense the angel of the Lord verse 11

Jesus in the Old Testament called to him

from heaven and said Abraham Abraham

watch it when God calls your name twice

and he said here I am this is the second

time he said that I’m here I’m submitted

to

you do not stretch out your hand against

the lad and do nothing to him for now I

know that you fear God since you have

not withheld your son your only son from

me now this is difficult and

deep now I know that you fear me because

you’ve not withheld your son your only

son from

me the problem is those three words now

I

know so now I want to give you a tidbit

of

theology the doctrine of omniscience

refers to God’s all knowingness

omnicient means to know

all there is nothing God does not know

anything that can be known God already

knows God knows everything

actual God knows everything

potential but he does not know

everything

experiential so he never experienced sin

although he knows all about Sin he knows

what it is he knows where it came from

he knows what it does but he doesn’t

know how it feels to do it because he

never did it so he has omniscience about

the information but not omniscience

about the experience of the

data when God wanted to know what it

feels like to be human guess what he did

he became a

man Hebrews 4 says so that he could

sympathize with our infirmity so he

could feel it so guess why God put you

in a trial that doesn’t make sense cuz

he wants to feel your

love he don’t just want to hear it he

don’t just want to hear discussions

about it he wants to feel it and what

makes him feel it when you choose him

over something you already

love he says I know you fear me because

you’ve not withheld your son the only

one you’ve got whom you love from me

when you had to choose between me and

him you chose me

and now I know cause now I feel

it what happens when this takes

place now I know that you fear

me Abraham raised up his eyes look verse

13 and behold there was a ram caught in

the thicket now this is the quietest Ram

in

history if a ram is caught in a Thicket

it’s trying to wiggle it’s trying to get

out the thicket he does not see the

solution until the obedience

occurs okay see a lot of us looking for

the ram when we haven’t finished the

obedience so God is keeping the ram

quiet the solution was already there it

just wasn’t

revealed until after God felt

them it’s caught in the

thicket if the ram is caught in the

thicket that means the ram is already in

the thicket yeah it was just not

revealed Abraham called the name of the

place verse 14 the Lord will

provide that’s one of the big names of

god Jehovah Gyra you you’ve heard it

you’ve sung it that’s Jehovah’s Gyra it

is said to this day in the mouth of the

Lord it will be provided the Greek word

Gyra means to

preed it means to

preed so God God provides when he

precedes he needs to

preed so that you can see him

provide so if you don’t give him

something to

see then you may not see what he can

provide he

says then the angel of the Lord called

to Abraham a second time that’s a big

principle in scripture when God wants to

confirm something he does it a second or

third time the angel of the Lord calls

to Abraham a second time from Heaven

confirmation this is really me talking

okay so the Lord calls to him a second

time and he gives him a

Zinger let me read you the

Zinger verse 16 and said by myself I

have sworn declares the Lord because you

have done this thing and have not

withheld your son your only son indeed I

will greatly bless you I will greatly

multiply your seed as the stars of the

heavens and as the sand which is on the

seashore and your seed shall possess the

gates of their enemies in your seed all

the nations of the Earth shall be

blessed because you have obeyed my

voice he says I have now SW sworn to you

I

swear okay if you use everyday language

I

swear so here you have a important

principle and that is the distinction

between God’s promise and God’s

oath God made a promise to Abraham way

back in Genesis chap

12 same

promise but he doesn’t swear by it until

Genesis

22 the passage we’re reading

today between Genesis 12 and Genesis

22 when he swears by something he

said a dozens of years it took him 25

years from the time he supposed to have

Isaac till the time he actually had

Isaac Isaac is a teenager now so we’ve

got decades that have gone by when

nothing has happened about the promise

there are those who feel like God has

said something in his word or said

something to you years ago and nothing

has happened

yet that is because you must understand

between God’s promise and God’s oath is

space in that space between what he says

he’s going to do and when he’s actually

going to do it is a time when he’s

getting the promise ready for you and

he’s getting you ready for the

promise between Genesis 12 and Genesis

22 Abraham made a bunch of

mistakes Abraham has had some

issues so God was not ready to give Abe

the promise because he was not ready to

handle it

properly so in the space between God’s

promise and God’s oath is his

preparation and you have a part to play

and how long it

lasts cuz he says now that you’ve obeyed

me now that you’ve come fully with me I

can now do what I said I was going to do

let me help you out with the New

Testament because in Hebrews chapter 6

guess what the author of Hebrews says

about this story in Genesis chapter 22

in Hebrews chapter 6 here’s what we read

verse 13 for when God made the promise

to

Abraham since he could swear by no one

greater he swore by himself remember God

said I swear

okay it says saying I will surely bless

you and I will surely multiply you we

just read that and so having watch this

patiently waited he obtained the promise

for men swear by one greater than

themselves and with them an oath given

as

confirmation is a end of every dispute

in the same way God Desiring even more

to show to The Heirs of the promise the

unchangeableness of his purpose

interposed with an oath so that by two

unchangeable things in which it is

impossible for God to lie we who have

taken Refuge would have strong

encouragement to take hold of the hope

that is set before

us so he could swear by nobody greater

than

himself so he swore by himself now let

me tell you what happens when God takes

an oath related to a promise he plans to

bring you away even though you don’t

know how in the world he going to do it

because it doesn’t make sense it’s

totally contradictory how in the world

is God going to pull off he says I swear

by myself which means I don’t need

anybody outside of me to make it happen

right in other words when God is ready

to make a promise and oath there’s

nothing left for you to do all you got

to do is finish the obedience until he’s

ready to take it over himself Hebrews

chapter 11 ver 17 and 19 it closes with

this

phrase Abraham offered up

Isaac and then it says and he got him

back as a

type okay don’t don’t miss this this

this is Rich it’s deep and it

matters that’s in Hebrews 11 all of

Hebrews 11 is about what folk went

through in the Old Testament but it’s

written in the New Testament he said he

got Isaac back God told him you know you

don’t have to sacrifice him here’s the

RAM and he got him back as a TI

Now a type is something physical in the

Old Testament designed to teach us

something spiritual in the New Testament

the reason why Abraham’s story is being

retold over and over again is God wants

to us to use something now based on the

principle we learn from what happened

then what happened then was God using a

test to bring about his promise

through an

oath and I am challenging

you to ask God to give you an encounter

regardless of the test that you have to

take because when you pass it it becomes

an oath and he takes over from there

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