It's A Faith Exam! - Pastor Tolan Morgan

we're always excited and elated to have clergy visit with us stop in and sneak on us and he's one of the original Fellowship Bible Saints and he's with us tonight pastor this morning Pastor Dave wilcoxon come on church let's give God praise for him come on church celebrate this man of God bless you man listen man we love Dave wilcoxon Haven Amen let's go to the word of the Lord everyone standing for the word of the Lord now listen if you were here last week we were not able to do what we will attempt to do now so touch your neighbor and tell your neighbor let's try it again [Laughter] let's try one more game here the holy goes through his weight around this room last Sunday in a tremendous way that we were not able to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ due to the move of the Holy Ghost so uh we'll try this one more game Genesis chapter number 22 Genesis chapter 22 want to read this in your hearing again [Laughter] even Genesis chapter number 22 I wanted to get reading at verse number one again and it came to pass after these things that God did tempt Abraham and said unto Him Abraham and he said Behold Here I am he said take now your son your only son Isaac whom you love and get you into the land of Moriah and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell you of and Abraham rose up early in the morning and saddled his ass and took two of his young men with him and Isaac his son and clave the wood for the burnt offering and rose up and went unto the place of which God had told them then on the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place afar off and Abraham said unto his young men abide you here with the ass I am the lad will go yonder and worship and come again to you and Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it upon Isaac his son and he took the fire in his hand and a knife and they went both of them together and Isaac spoke unto Abraham his father and said My father and he said here am I my son and he said Behold the fire and the wood but where is the lamb for a burnt offering and Abraham said my son God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering so they went both of them together and they came to the place which God had told him and Abraham built an altar there and laid the wood in order and bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar upon the wood and Abraham stretched forth his son and took the knife to slay his son and the angel of the Lord called unto him out of heaven and said Abraham Abraham he said here am I and he said do not lay your hand upon the lad neither do you anything unto him for now I know that you fear God seeing you have not withheld your son your only son from me and Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns and Abraham went and took the RAM and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son and Abraham called the name of that place Jehovah Jireh as it is said to this day in the mount of the Lord it shall be seen I want to tag this text it's a faith exam again [Music] be seated in the Lord's Church many of you who both see and hear me are either retired or current educators in some capacity and one of the things that is unique and common to an educator particularly a teacher or a professor or an instructor is that that teacher or professor or instructor not only informs instructs and gives insight and gives teachings on particular topics but also the teacher is the one who also formulates the test that is the governing document to whether his or her students pass and move on to the next level the same person who gives the teaching is the same person who gives the tests and more often than not the teacher who drafts and constructs the test is not doing it to flunk his or her students but they're doing it to expose that student to see if anything he or she taught the student is still on the inside of them and the only way to expose what's on the inside is to test you the test doesn't come from a bully student or from an enemy the test comes from the very person who did the teaching because it is not just that teachers responsibility to test the student it is also his or her right because the test becomes a tool to see if what he or she taught ever got inside of the student I know you are not going to like the real lesson of this story because familiarity breeds contempt and our familiarity with this story often times blocks the real core central issue of what is happening here in this story but this story ladies and gentlemen is a challenging story because it is devil free the problem in this story is that the teacher becomes the test the problem in this story ladies and gentlemen is that it introduces to us a side of God that many of us either don't know or don't choose to accept or we allow it to be dormant in our sub-conscience because we struggle with that side of God that is a problem for us and this story is one of those times when God is the problem because what we learn from this story and many others as you sit in silence struggling with what I'm saying what we learned here ladies and gentlemen is that whenever God decides to test you he poses and postures himself as your opposition whenever God really wants to test your faith he doesn't use the devil to do it he hires himself and postures himself against you because faith is easy when it's the devil but when it's God posturing and posing himself as your problem and opposition's you have no scripture to quote you have no prayer to pray you have no angel to consult you have no pastor to counsel with cause what do you use against God as a matter of fact the average Christian is not even sensitive to divine opposition because we blame it all on the devil because we're trying to get God off the hook it don't feel right if it's him but that's against our tradition that's against our Christian convictions God is good god is god is great God is always doing what we want him to do and when we have to deal with the opposition of the divine we psychologically replace God with the devil I knew you weren't gonna say nothing today cause our familiarity with this story does not allow us to see what's really happening so so so we have to we have to rewind to go forward I'm in the Bible is in verse number one there are three words in verse number one that help us to understand what is happening in chapter 22 in your silence in the sanctuary those three words are after these things I'm in verse number 1 of chapter 22 after these things because you are intelligent and scholarly your question is what things after these things that those three words open the door for us to try to grasp and comprehend what is happening in this familiar story after these things what what things Genesis chapter 21 first five verses of Genesis chapter 1 Abraham has finally received this promise he's been waiting on his barren wife miraculously gives birth to Isaac his name has been changed from Abram to Abraham hers has been changed from Syria to Sarah Sarah and now this child has come that they did not believe would come his name is Isaac his name means you shall laugh go Sarah didn't believe she would have a child both her and Isaac laughed at the revelation of God and God got the last laugh by giving them Isaac that's the first five verses of Genesis chapter 21 so now he has received the promise also in Genesis chapter 21 he is prioritizing his house because his wife is uncomfortable with the swag he got going on with his baby mama so she instructs him to dismiss her and that and her child that is still in her womb and when we read Genesis 21 God tells Abraham this time do what your wife told you to do sin Hagar and Ishmael only way he's prioritizing the house and not only is it prioritizing the house but the Bible says that the clothes of Genesis chapter 21 he has acquired more property his territory is expanding he is becoming more wealthier because he's owning more property a right since you still not responding in your Sunday silence there three things that you got to understand in Genesis chapter 121 number one he gets his promise number two he's prioritizing his how and number three he's owning property verse 1 of chapter 22 says after these things still acting slow verse number one his promise has come the second thing is he's prioritizing his house he's getting his house in order and verse number three he's owning property verse number 1 of chapter 22 says after these things still acting funny first thing he does is get the promise he's been waiting on for 25 years then he gets more property then he prioritizes his house and after a season of success and prosperity and posterity and profit the Bible says and God tempted Abraham you miss it cuz cuz this is not what you've been trained to believe psychologically in church but ladies and gentlemen it is after a season of success when you own top of the world when things are going your way car is on his way to tempt you things going well finally got what I've been waiting on finally got some more property got my house in order and God waits till success happens to tempt Abraham you you you don't want to admit it because again you you're trained to believe that God wouldn't do stuff like that cuz you you think that's the devil no no no no no God or wait right good till you get the job and then come bother you God will wait right good until you get the business deal and now he is going to come and interrupt your life with a testing that word tempt in verse number one translates to test and God did test Abraham you missed it if he blesses you he's got the right to test you and he'll wait until he blessed to test you whoever god bless that's who he gonna test I know I know I know y'all should have been here last Sunday you you you you had all you have 30 minutes to shout last son whoever god bless that's who he's going to test and to sin the devil to test you is to do you a favor but to set himself to do is to push your faith to a whole nother level I knew you weren't gonna say nothing today whoever god bless he gonna test which is a word for you arrogant people watch your mouth boasting when blessings comes your way what watch watch your attitude watch your walk watch how you get wonderful because God got his eye on you the minute he bless you he's coming to test after these things did God test Abraham well it rains this is gonna be a problem for you but but we gonna get through it together look at the test pick your face in there the test is take your son your all this son who technically isn't your only son this your second son that other one you just put out this is the son I'm recognizing cuz this is the son of my promise that other boy was the son of your works this is the boy that I promise take that boy to an undisclosed address and sacrifice him this is the part of the text y'all don't want to deal with and this is the whole point of the sermon today ladies and gentlemen Genesis chapter 17 verse 7 and 8 God spoke to Abraham and said man I'm on bless yo see I'm gonna make a covenant with you and your seed and the generations after him y'all missed it he said I'm gonna make a covenant with you your seed and generations after him that's in Genesis chapter 21 17 the promise shows up in Genesis chapter 21 and in Genesis chapter 22 God tells Abram to go kill the promise he said to him come in in chapter 21 God gave the promise in chapter 22 God tells Abraham to go kill the promise i'ma travel more time in chapter 21 God gives the promise in chapter 22 the same God who gave the promise tells Abraham to go kill what he just gave it ladies and gentlemen Abraham is caught in the center of a divine contradiction God says here's the promise that's life turns around in the next shop then says go sacrificing that's death god it's contradicting itself you've spent all these years waiting to give him this promise only to turn around and tell him to go kill what you gave him Abraham is caught in a divine contradiction but we figure out why he's the father of faith again we figured out Linda because he's caught in a divine contradiction and ends up saying yes to both ahem listen whenever God wants to test your faith he postures himself against you to see will you say yes to both ends up destruct I knew you I'm gonna say no God got a habit of doing this no scholars and theologians have figured this out God got a habit of doing this can't Jordan what God do it does is he'll call you and then work against you he got a habit of doing this he did it with Jacob he shows up in Jacob's dreams and then wrestles Jacob in reality he does it again with Joseph he shows up in Joseph's dreams and then submits Joseph to the slave trade and rape allegations he does it again with Joe he recommends showed I'm being fearing God and is shooing evil but did offers job to be attacked by the Satan by own divine authority he did it again with the disciples he closed them from the sea and then puts them in a storm he did it again with Jesus he sends Jesus and Chapter three and says this is my beloved Son in whom I'm well pleased and then turns around in the next chapter and the Spirit of the Lord led him to the wilderness to be tempted ladies and gentlemen you better watch how you brag about God because the same car that will call you is the same God that will posture his self against [Applause] because whenever God want to test your faith for real he'll make his self your problem [Applause] [Music] y'all should have picked another church to go to today cuz they don't they don't say this in regular Church God ultimately evaluates your faith by catching you in between his contradictions to see will you say yes [Applause] to both the command of life and the command of death see if you only got a yes to God when it's comfortable when it's easy when it's to your benefit when you get to walk around and brag to other people when he getting ready to bless you and what you won't know now God becomes your sugar daddy and not your God now God becomes who you hustling and not your God God ultimately I say evaluate how you really feel about him by posturing himself against you and see where you still say yes that's what this story is really about this story is about well God get a yes out of you even when he sends you a command to do something you really don't want to do and Genesis chapter 22 is a document of how a man responds to a divine contradiction can we check out his response see you don't want to say a man cuz you you you you know this story too good that's what your problem is you you you you I learned this story before I got saved yeah before I really accepted Jesus I knew about Abraham offer and Isaac yeah I knew about that but but now that I'm grown and have looked into this story ladies and gentlemen the Bible is not about the people in the Bible the Bible is about how God reveals himself and how he does it through the people in the Bible and when we see the Bible from God's perspective we get a whole nother look at this passage God is trying to showcase himself to be faithful but he's got to do it now and then by testing to see where your faith is at here's the question what was Abraham's response DQ face it here verse 3 says he got up early in the morning y'all missed it he got up early in the morning that's the just an immediate response you missed it he got up early the next morning he didn't delay he woke up the next morning grabbed his teenage son and started heading to a mountain to which he has no address okay you missed it he didn't wait cuz real faith does not delay to respond he rose early in the morning took him three days to get there that means he had a lot of time to change his mind he didn't change his mind took him three days to get there cuz he really didn't know whey was going the Lord didn't tell him to go to a specific place he said one of the mountains that I will show you one of the mountains that I will show you means that when Abraham left the house he really don't know a god he is following the GPS God's positional Spirit inside of him and as he is walking God it's talking to his conscience and say turn left he'll go right here keep going straight God's talking to him took him three days to get there when he gets there he has an immediate response when he gets to where he's supposed to be he looks at his servants and said hey y'all stay here me and the boy go and go yonder and worship and come again to you that's the slow side over there they get to where God's has to be and when they get that he don't even know what address he is he gets to the foot of the mountain and says me and the boy we don't go yonder and worship and come again to you first of all ladies and gentlemen y'all missed it so let me give you give it to you what God called a test Abraham called worship I will shout myself in here what God called a test Abraham says I'm going up here to worship ladies and gentlemen what how would you react if I told you that God sometimes is testing you just to see will you worship at the response that he's given you you and a test right now just by walking in here cuz you shout out to worship so mean the boys going to worship catch that y'all here is Abraham says that when God is testing me it's not an excuse to stay away from worship [Music] [Applause] when God is stretching himself against me that's not an excuse to stay home and be mad at God just cuz God has fostered himself against you that's every reason to show up to worship because that's what he's looking for I got about a hundred yards that a flunking this test right now cuz you've been in this church almost an hour and you sittin here like you lookin at a movie - let me talk to the other 600 of y'all who testify if I woke up this morning open my eyes got my right mind my self to church I'm gonna give it all to God when I show up to worship touch three people tell I'm not flocking this test today I came in here to worship it's a sacrifice I've got to give up something that you truly worship God [Applause] when I worship I got to give something up when I worship I've got to sluice something for some of y'all is your attitude for some of you it's how good you look for some of you it's how reserved you are when you're really watching you've got to sacrifice something God called the test Abraham called a worship you ready to fast so I shot myself me and the boy go on the worship and come again okay now y'all acting slow let me talk to these people here me and the boy going up on this mountain to worship and come again to you hold on Abraham God told you to take that boy up there and sacrifice him so if you go on up there to kill him if y'all go come back and the answer to the question is I've seen God raised from the dead once because my wife was barren but wound was dead and if God could raise it from the dead once he can do it again isn't anybody grateful that God could do it again [Applause] you ever been sick more than once didn't he heal you more than once you ever been homeless a hole quick more than once did he feed you more than once cuz whatever he's done one time we could do it again [Music] see see ladies and gentlemen part of your faith is built on the fact of what God has already done so when you face a new problem you got memory in your mind of some stuff God has already brought you out of before and you convinced yourself he's the same body yesterday today and forever more he loves no power he can do it again I've seen him raised today he came from a dead the womb I don't know how he gonna do it this time but he messed around and let me see him do it once have I got any help in this church tell your neighbor you can't convince me what God can't do cuz I've seen God do some stuff you won't even believe we go on to worship and us coming back Matthew Hudson I'm caught between the gift of life and the command of death and I've gotta say yes to both Cara Watson here's the problem in this text it gets more complicated because I Rama in Genesis chapter 21 Abraham did not believe God and lost a child in Genesis chapter 22 abraham believed God and is still in the process of losing a child and he is saying yes to both aspects of God's wheels that's what real faith is or let me upset you good church people and tell you get in trouble right here real faith is not you getting your way it's God getting his wake when God won't do what you wanted to do but you still say yes to what he does that's real thing takes that boy up on that mountain and raw Tommy got him strapped to would check says he he straps that boy to the wood makes him carry it up on this hill straps him down to the altar that boy looks around and said man this is a familiar scene daddy so you would see the fire see the altar there buddy well is the lamb Lamine was even worse than the question is the answer Lal I wish y'all could read this Bible by the way I see I'm a happy hit go you ready it go the answer is worse than the question the answer is some God shall provide himself a lamb y'all knows it in my business cuz you want to ask me I thought that was a good answer Kosta why do you say that the answer is worse than the question Matthew Hudson the answer is worse than the question because Abraham told Isaac something God didn't tell Abraham God didn't tell you he was gonna provide himself a lamb I wish y'all would read the Bible God ain't told you that God told you to take that boy up and kill him that's all he told you he didn't tell you he was gonna provide herself for land so you tell him Isaac something about God that God didn't tell you these these shows over here tired of me that's okay brother [Applause] faith is speaking on behalf of who you know when you don't know what to do [Applause] faith is saying stuff that you believe about God even when God didn't say it but because you know God's character you know God's heart you know God's ability I say some things about God because I know God so ladies and gentlemen Abraham is speaking a certainty off of an uncertainty because he's speaking what he knows off of what he don't know the [Music] Lord told you that but because I know God got all powers but because I know God knows all things but because I know God is everywhere at the same time I'm gonna speak some stuff according to his character even though I don't know how he gonna do this y'all they never had faith faith is speaking some stuff you didn't go that you don't know I don't know what God gonna do but I know God and here's how I believe he gonna do it because real faith speaks with missing information and unanswered questions I don't know how he gonna do it but this what I believe he couldn't do isn't that what real faith is [Applause] God ain't told you that I know he didn't but that's what I believe about it okay y'all missed it Hey ladies and gentlemen you can speak well and confidently about people you trust see there are certain things that people can say to you about people you trust ya'll must ain't got nobody who trusts you see when you got experienced with certain people you got a track record with them and even when they ain't around you can speak confidently about them cuz I been with them I know them for their works and they gonna come through anybody in here trust in the Lord let me see [Applause] when I trust you I ain't got to talk to you cuz I know you for your works so I can speak on your behalf even when I don't haven't talked to you about how you're gonna do it God ain't told me how you gonna do it I just trusted God hasn't told me how you're gonna make a way I just trust them [Applause] hey boy I don't even know how you're gonna do it but he gonna provide himself a lamb I'm done when I tell you this no I just lied my bad [Applause] the Nene take that boy up on that mountain if this is teenage boy by the way he's Nana look here he's somewhere between 14 15 16 years old take that boy up there strap him to that wood got him on that Brett he got him on that altar what is going through Isaac's mind that he's gotta watch his own daddy Kimmy what is going through Isaac's mind that the hand of his sacrificer is his own father he doesn't fight his father he doesn't resist he submits they don't know winner get happy y'all miss you so I'll shout myself in Genesis chapter 22 the Sun gets escorted to his altar by the fire [Applause] [Music] the father walks his son lord have mercy today to the place of sacrifice and his son does not fight the daddy he just lays there and submix does that sound like somebody y'all know own cameras healed the father walked his son to the sacrifice no man takes my life lay it down [Applause] which means y'all let me mess with your theology sin was a secondary reason why Jesus died the first reason why Jesus died is cuz it please the father [Applause] Isaiah looks through the telescope of time and looks into the future and say it pleased the Lord to bruise his own son this is an issue of not only substitution but submission and Abraham's real faith is tested when he has to say yes to both yo yes in death has to be as strong as you yes in life I [Applause] quit I'm for real this time I was talking to get to this point Gary here it is when this story started Abraham didn't know who what the mountain to go to it wasn't give him in the instructions that said a mountain on my shoulder he gets up on that mountain he got his kid up dating stroke getting ready to kill him an angel the Lord speaks from heaven say hey buddy stop timeout stop don't hurt him now I know that you fear God because you didn't withhold your son your only Son for me it is taking it's going bless your life the reason why God tests you is to up root inner motives [Music] and the way he doesn't Hagen is that God has to compete with what you love in order to figure out where he stands in your life the text says Matt Hudson this is your son whom you love and God wants to know do you love him over me because God as the giver never wants to be second to the gift and if at any time I think you love that gift more than the giver I'm coming to posture myself against you so that your priorities can be put back in the right place never put the guilt over the giver stop don't kill him I know you love me now more than you love him and look behind you by the way there's a ram caught in a thicket y'all missed this it ran me any probably gonna run you cuz you tired of me but it ran me ladies and gentlemen the RAM being caught in the thicket was an indication of where God was sending Abraham [Applause] because God ain't never gonna sing you someplace he ain't already provided I'm a shout myself see ladies and gentlemen wherever God is sending you the provision is older than the assignment wherever God is sending you he has already been there he waiting on you to catch up to where he's at because he's already been where are you going and everything you need is already there before you get there I was always sending you to the mountain I had already provided that's good news for somebody so he calls the place Jehovah Jireh which translates God will see to it Pro meaning before vid short for video meeting provide God will see to it God will see ahead God will see it before you get there God always provides the solution before the problem what mountain was i sending you to I was sending you to the one with a ram codec cuz I always were always was ready to substitute you I just wanted to see where your heart was that you missed it so I'm done if God tests God provides [Applause] god never lets you finish a test he initiated God always finishes the tests so you won't fail because that place Jehovah Jireh God will see to it I want to ask all the question has God provided you were trying to figure some stuff out and God had already worked that thing out he had already beat you to the place where he was sending you you didn't have you you were sweating you were struggling he was worried he was stressed out God had already met a Rabb and put it there before you got there and the question of where is the lamb one answer for 2000 years the lamb finally showed up John said behold the lamb of God who comes to take away the sins of the world he was wounded for our transgressions bruised for our iniquities the chastisement of our peace is upon him and by His stripes we are healed and when he gets done sacrificing himself on Calvary there will be no other lamb there will be no more turtle dogs there will be no more sacrifices he is of the sacrifice it was all an exam and when I'm really ready to test you I got to catch you in the sinner of a contradiction and see what your response will be to both everyone's standing grab hands with somebody [Applause] father you got somebody in this room in the middle of a contradiction they're called their assignment they're gifting is one thing and their reality is another I want to thank you today that you sent your word to remind us it's a faith exam and not a final exam thank you for sending your word to help us to understand you more clearly and when you want to exercise our faith when you want to expand our faith you posture yourself against us but you don't do it to kill us you do it to stretch us you do it to broaden our understanding of you oh god we thank you and at the end of every test there's a ram a provision you've already made before the test started so father I pray for that brother or sister in this place who finds themselves in the center of your contradiction god I pray that you would give them the fortitude the fidelity and the faith to say yes to both aspects of your wheel in order that they may experience the provision you've made in their lives as we found out today that faith pleases you and not us you want us to have faith you want us to walk by faith you want us to believe you by faith but it's not for our own manipulation it's for your glory so father strengthen our faith now the end of this year may present some degree of challenge but God strengthen our faith give us the power to say yes to the things that are comfortable and the things that are challenging and we give you glory now in Jesus name Amen [Applause]

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Keywords: Faith, Exams, Tests, Preaching, Tolan Morgan, Rev. Tolan Morgan, Pastor Tolan Morgan, Dr. Tolan Morgan, Rev. Dr. Tolan Morgan, Fellowship Bible Baptist Church, FBBC, FBBCWarnerRobins, Teachers, Teaching, Final Exam, Warner Robins GA, Preachers in Georgia, NSP, New St. Paul, Black Preachers, Black Pastors

Id: RIQoU3Q1pvI

Length: 63min 17sec (3797 seconds)

Published: Wed Nov 13 2019