If You Are Afraid of Losing It, It Is Already Your Idol

Sermon outline

To move from surviving to thriving we must move from survival to sacrifice: like Abraham who obeyed and Isaac who lay willingly on the altar, nothing can be held tighter than God, because whatever you are afraid of losing has already become your idol.

1. Abraham left everything familiar

   God told Abraham to leave his country, his relatives, his culture and everything comfortable for a land He would show him, and Abraham went, though Scripture does not say how long it took him to obey. He did not ask his wife what she thought; he told her what God had said, and they went. That decision began a new culture, a culture of obedience.

   “Just by that decision and his obedience, he already began a new culture, a culture of obedience.”

   • Genesis 12:1-4

2. Sarah laughed: disbelief even in the obedient

   Abraham discerned the visitors at Mamre and hurried to serve them, and they promised Sarah a son within a year. Sarah had already made peace with never having children, laughed to herself, and then denied it because she was afraid. Even obedient, God-fearing people have an area of unbelief because we want things to make sense and to stay in control. God calls Himself the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, because He is generational, and so must we be.

   Illustration: Sarah had to bake bread from three measures of fine flour: there was no Woolworths at the time.

   “It's not about me, it's not about I, but it's about where are we going.”

   • Genesis 18:1-15
   • Genesis 21:1-3
   • Exodus 3:6

3. On Moriah: the lens of obedience

   God told Abraham to take his only son whom he loved and offer him, and Abraham rose early, left the servants behind, and told them he and the boy would worship and come back. He laid the wood on Isaac and said God would provide the lamb. At the last moment the angel stopped him, a ram was caught in the thicket, and God swore to bless and multiply him because he obeyed. Abraham looked through the lens of faith and obeyed even when it did not make sense.

   “Are we prepared to believe God to that degree that we are prepared even when it doesn't make sense to continue in order for God to work?”

   • Genesis 22:1-18

4. Isaac was a willing participant

   Isaac knew how a burnt offering worked, carried the wood himself, and was strong enough to overpower his hundred-year-old father, yet Scripture never says he fought, ran or argued. His silence was not cowardice or naivety but the depth of his trust in his father. That is kingdom consciousness: his life was not his own. Multi-generational blessing comes not from education or strength but from obedience, and obedience always costs something, so we must become a living sacrifice.

   Illustration: A mother spends her first months entirely on her newborn, and in a crisis at birth, a mother will always choose her child's life over her own. That is the godly instinct of a living sacrifice.

   “Isaac was not a victim in this. Isaac was a willing participant.”

   • Romans 12:1

5. If you are afraid of losing it, it is your idol

   Abraham did not fall in love with the gift but with the Giver. If you are afraid of losing your money, your car, your house or even your spouse, that thing has taken God's place. Some of us need to lay Netflix, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok on the altar and let them burn. Some have given themselves to their career, so the family has the salary but not them, and the company will replace them with a LinkedIn post tomorrow.

   Illustration: He and Pastor Adrian broke beds as boys copying the wrestlers Razor Ramon and Shawn Michaels in their ladder matches, trading blows for hours though only one could win. Trying to balance God against career and ambition is the same: God cannot be budgeted into the calendar.

   “The minute that we are afraid to lose something, it's an idol.”

   • Proverbs 11:1

6. Word life, prayer life, church life

   True success in marriage, work and family needs three things: a healthy prayer life, a healthy word life from God's Word rather than self-help books, and a healthy church life with a community that sharpens you. Having two without the third still leaves you missing, and each requires sacrifice. Your proximity to your leader shapes your walk, and discipling someone else costs you too. Church life is a well your family drinks from, so cut off anyone who poisons it with gossip about the church or its leaders.

   Illustration: If someone told you your wife was a devil you would throw them out and block their number. Treat whoever poisons your church life the same way. When people from other churches ask to join, he first takes them back to make things right with their pastor.

   “Burn that bridge. Burn that bridge fast.”

   • Proverbs 27:17
   • Psalm 92:13

7. Put your house in order

   Children do what their parents do, so if you want godly children, die to yourself and get the three right. Children are trained into waywardness by what we neglect. Do not wait until they are teenagers to bring them to church, and do not make school more important than church, because that teaches them that something is more important than spiritual principles. Good men and good women are not born; they are forged.

   Illustration: As a boy he fell asleep on the pulpit holding the pastor's leg, and his parents always made sure he was in the house of the Lord. Even when he went wayward, that brought him back. At home his father was the policeman; at church he was the man of God.

   “Good men are not born; good men are forged.”

   • Proverbs 22:6

8. Watch your words about the men and women of God

   Do not throw poison on others with your words, because men and women of God have been living sacrifices in their communities, whether or not they have large followings. Every believer sharing the gospel, on a platform or outside the mall, is a man or woman of God.

   Illustration: An Uber driver in Gauteng told him all pastors steal people's money. He asked whether all Uber drivers are thieves, pointed out that the man believed in God's institution of marriage but not in God's institution of the church, and reminded him of the man of God who served his family for thirty years and was never thanked. He told him his whole family was watching how he treated the church.

   “Consider your words very wisely.”

   • Matthew 27:38

In this message