Dr. Tony Evans is the founder and senior pastor of Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship in Dallas, founder and president of The Urban Alternative, chaplain of the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks, and author of over 100 books, booklets & Bible studies. His radio broadcast, The Alternative with Dr. Tony Evans, can be heard on more than 1,300 US outlets daily and in more than 130 countries.
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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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God’s promises come at two levels there
are the recorded promises in his word
and then there are the applied promises
in our experience that’s where he takes
a principle a precept from the word but
applies it to your unique situation it’s
when the Holy Spirit lifts the print off
the Bible and says this is for you we’re
gonna take you to one of the big tests
in scripture and through this test we’re
going to tell you and me and us how we
can have an encounter with God and his
promises in Genesis 22 we have one of
the most recorded events in history
repeated over and over again in the New
Testament although it happened in the
Old Testament and that is Abraham
offering up Isaac
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 Moriah 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 this is a test related to a promise
I’ll explain this test is unique because
it involved a series of contra
affections 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 chapter
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 your 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 of you God who in Genesis
chapter 9 verse 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 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 because
he says sacrifice your son your only Son
and then he says whom you love my only
son you asking me to turn over and even
take his life that’s killing my emotions
the 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 gonna say I’m going to
worship worshiping God in a crisis he
says 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 tests will often involve
something that doesn’t make sense
what is Abe gonna do because this is
certainly not something he wants to do
first three says Abraham rose up early
in the morning saddled his donkey 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 it was told to do this thing that
he didn’t want to do that didn’t make
sense he got up early Hebrews chapter 11
verses 17 and 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 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 big’un view of God particularly
when he doesn’t make sense
he said because they believed that God
could raise them from the dead why would
a bruh ham 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 hundred
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 because you don’t have anything to
remember so this situation you’re in now
is your first memory but those who walk
with God and who’ve been through a
little something song and then they
coming up with something new some new
challenge some new contradiction you can
look back on the stones of remembrance
Abraham is now going he tells the young
men the lads the servants they hear that
we coming back he says in verse 8 God
will provide for himself the lamb for
the burnt offering my son Isaac asked
him look 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 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 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 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 op missions
refers to God’s all-knowing this
omniscient 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 admissions about
the information but not admissions 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 puts you
in a trial that doesn’t make sense
because he wants to feel your love
he don’t just want to hear you 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 coz 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 that 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 is 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 him caught
in the thicket
if the RAM is caught in the thicket that
means the RAM is already in the thicket
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 Jireh you you’ve heard
that you’ve sung it
that’s Jehovah Jireh it is said to this
day in the Mount of the Lord it will be
provided the greek word Jireh means to
precede it means to precede so God
provides when he precedes he needs to
precede 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
doesn’t a second or third time the angel
the Lord calls to Abraham a second time
from
confirmation this is really me talking
okay
so the Lord calls to him a second time
and he gives him a singer we read you
the zinger verse sixteen 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 sworn to you
I swear okay they use it every day
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
chapter 12 same promise but he doesn’t
swear by it until Genesis 22 the passage
were reading today between Genesis 12
and Genesis 22 when he swears by
something he said are dozens of years it
took him 25 years from the time he
disposed of Isaac tell the time he
actually had Isaac Isaac as 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
says 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
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 he
almost got his wife hooked up with
another man he had a baby by another
woman I mean he’s been lying over this
face a time 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 where 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 watched 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 were
taking refuge would have strong
encouragement to take hold of the hope
that is said 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 gonna do it because it
doesn’t make sense it’s totally
contradictory hi in the world is God
gonna pull this off he says I swear by
myself which means I don’t need anybody
outside of me to make it happen 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
verses 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 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 me as a ram and he got him
back as a type 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
and OH at Hampton and camp wisdom is 65
acres 65 acres of land that OC bf owns
that particular piece was up for sale
and I knew I knew God had told me that
that the addition of everything else
that was ours and I knew in my spirit to
a number of things that that was ours we
got we got a bunch of the folk from the
church we marched from here down to the
65 acres some of the elders who are here
now we’re here then and then they were
reminding me they were in the March so
we walk from here and we walk down to
the 65 acres and we walked out there we
got in this huge circle to pray a prayer
of confirmation that this was ours so we
prayed the way the land would be sold
was through a bid you had to bid it so
we pray and we lost a bid somebody
bidding higher than us and the land was
sold to another after I was convinced it
was ours I can’t tell you how
disappointed I was because I was fairly
sure God had said this is yours but the
opposite happened it went to somebody
else and so it was confusing years later
not days not weeks not months years
later word came out that the folks who
bought it could not keep up with the
payments come on man couldn’t keep up
with the payments the land was coming
back up at a crazy price and that’s why
we have it today God allowed us to lose
it so we could trust him in the loss in
order to use it as a type because when
we first moved out here as it’s nothing
but landing trees out here
and the a-frame built a little a frame
built has all this out here and right
next to us was a daycare called Apple
Ridge Apple Ridge was a daycare owned by
somebody so all we had was the two acres
with the a-frame building and the owner
knew that we would want to buy his land
he knew that so he had the price way up
there okay way up there for this little
building that was their price was way up
there and he knew he kind of had us
cornered because we needed the land we
wanted the land if the church is gonna
expand but we were caught because he had
the price up there cuz he knew you know
it was a seller’s market so we would not
buy it at this crazy price he was asking
for all we could do was ask God to you
know come up with a way to provide it
how he would know the Lord would have to
provide it he was over there one day
when somebody broke in and held him
hostage with a gun didn’t hurt him but
threatened his life there were kids in
there so now parents are pulling out
their kids so now the value is going
south because the parents don’t want the
kids in that place where that can happen
that can happen anywhere but at that
time so then he comes to me knocks on my
door say I’ve been really rethinking
this I believe God wants y’all to have
this
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he reminded me whoever would think that
God would use a crop to answer a prayer
what I’m trying to tell you is you don’t
know who you dealing with that’s what
I’m trying to tell you 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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one of the ways we encounter God is when
he provides and sometimes God provides
in the most odd ways when Elijah needed
a provision God went to a Gentile widow
who was poor herself told her to provide
for Elijah and then he would provide for
her
when we walk by faith because Elijah was
told to go to this Widow we experience
how God can use
because the Gentiles were not the place
you would go for provision he can use
unorthodox people unorthodox sevens
dancing
to make soup on Mistral provisions and
use that supernatural provision to also
provide for the provider
God has a circle in the way he provides
he does it for us and then he uses us to
do it robbers when you have a need God
promises to meet that name Philippians
4:19 not all about once but to provide
for our needs
he is your source and he can
supernaturally bring manna from heaven
or bring people from Earth in order to
address the need you have in your life
but when God provides particularly when
you’re down to your last dime
particularly when you don’t know how
this issue is going to be resolved it’s
because he wants to give you a divine
and killing he wants you to experience
his supernatural provision you know when
when you know where it’s coming from
when it’s already in the bank or already
in the refrigerator already in the
freezer then you don’t so much look for
a divine encounter because you can
predict it
so God many times lets us get into
situations where we can’t predict it so
that he has to resolve it so that we
encounter him and old
so when the need shows up in your life
look to God don’t look to the
circumstances because you often can’t
figure out the under figure out of Oh
God and how he’s going to provide for
your life and your situation
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you
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