May it please Almighty God to
bless us together as we meditate in his word this morning. Let's
turn to the book of Genesis chapter 22 and we'll read verse 12. The book of Genesis chapter 22
and reading verse 12. And he said, lay not thine hand
upon the lad, neither do thou anything unto him. For now I
know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy Son,
thine only Son, from me. This is a very wonderful account
that we have in this 22nd chapter of Genesis, which speaks to us
about Abraham being tried and tempted as to whether he would
obey the word of God or not. We need to realize, we read this
account and we think how wonderful it is, but if we try and put
ourselves in the place of Abraham. Abraham had waited many years
for a son. And eventually God gave him the
promise for a son. And he still had to wait a good
number of years before that promise was fulfilled. And now God comes
to Abraham and tells him to take his son,
his only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the
land of Moriah, and offer him there for a burnt offering upon
one of the mountains, which I will tell thee of. Well, what a dramatic
turn of events really that was. No doubt Abraham had been going
on reasonably, quietly, recognising that God had answered his prayer
and had appeared for him and granted him this wonderful blessing
of a son. And now he was told to go and
offer him up. Now we have lessons in this chapter
to observe. First of all, we find that Abraham
clearly accepted what God spoke to him to do. There's no apparent
situation where he even argued, you might say, with the Lord
to tell him to remember this was a son of promise. And through this son was going
to be generations to serve the Lord. And was it right? that he was now to go and offer
up Isaac. Well, Abraham didn't stop. And it's most amazing because
we read in the next verse, and Abraham rose up early in the
morning. He didn't diddle-daddle. He didn't
think, well, I'll last this a bit longer. I don't want to lose
Isaac, so I'll just go slowly. Early in the morning, he got
up. and saddled his ass, and took
two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and claimed
the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up and went unto the
place of which God had told him. So we have an obedient servant. It's good, isn't it, to realize
that we have such a wonderful example. And as we think of these
kind of examples that we have in the scripture, we can think
perhaps of the case in Samuel's day, how Samuel was directed
to Saul. King Saul disobeyed God and thought
he could get away with it, and thought he had a good excuse.
And Samuel said in the 22nd verse of the 15th chapter of the first
book of Samuel, hath the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings
and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the Lord. Behold, to obey is better than
sacrifice. and to hearken than the fat of
rams. It's a very important verse that
is really. It's very relevant to us today
in our lives because how easy it is to obey, disobey God in
that which he says to us and we make excuses. We make excuses
by doing other things which we think we can justify and we think
we can almost argue with God that what we're doing is a better
thing to do. That's just what Saul did. And Samuel has to therefore tell
him very clearly, behold, to obey is better than sacrifice
and to hearken than the fat of rams. So we need to take that
to heart in our little lives Because God does give us things
to do and to say, and sometimes we duck the issue, we don't do
it, because we realise it doesn't really follow the pattern that
we wanted and we've made excuses. Well that's the Word of God.
Well, Abraham, by the grace of God, didn't fall into that snare
at all. He obeyed God. We have other
examples. We have the example of Paul when
he was told to go to Macedonia and again he didn't stop he planned
to go somewhere else but he obeyed God and how important it is that
you and I today in our little lives and we shouldn't think
the little things are important we should realize that we are
to obey our gracious and loving God. You see, God, my friends,
doesn't give us anything to do which is wrong. You and I perhaps
do many things which are wrong, but God is a most kind and gracious
and loving master. And he tells us to do those things
which are for his honor and glory. and for our personal good and
our personal benefit. And we shouldn't therefore try
and bring things down to our natural intelligence and think,
well, I've got a better idea and I think this will work out
better. We ought to simply listen to God and simply follow what
he has said. And so Abraham, by the grace
of God, did just that. And it's very, very wonderful
how he walked and what he did. And we realize when Isaac spake
to him, and he 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? That was a fair question, wasn't
it? Well, you see, the wonderful faith that Abraham was blessed with on this occasion
to respond very simply, very powerfully, very truthfully. And he said, my son, God will
provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering. And he had no idea
how that was to be performed. but he had faith in God. Faith to pursue and obey the
command of God, faith to be able to tell his son Isaac that God
will provide a lamb for a burnt offering. It's a wonderful evidence belief in God. And so we find
that they went to the place where God directed him. We know of
course that's Mount Moriah and there he built an altar. He laid the wood in order and
bound his son. and laid him on the altar upon
the wood. And we don't read that Isaac
was in disagreement. He may have been, but we don't
read about it. And therefore Abraham took him
and laid him on the wood. Abraham wasn't half-hearted in this act. No, he did that
which God commanded him. And therefore we find him laying
this son Isaac, remember his only son, on the altar, stretching
forth his hand, took the knife to slay his son. And then God stopped him. And then God gave this wonderful
statement and this wonderful testimony. He told him, lay not
thy hand upon the lad, neither do thou anything unto him. And then he makes this glorious
statement. For now his faith had been tested, and
he said, For now I know, this is God speaking, I know that
thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thine Son,
thine only Son, from me. Well, it was a wonderful and
glorious testimony from Almighty God. you see the wonderful outcome
of obeying what God commanded. He was willing, willing to carry
it out, willing to carry it out. And it's good just to remind
ourselves of perhaps in the chapter in Hebrews of the faithful witnesses,
it's a long account, in the 11th chapter of the Hebrews, And in
that 11th chapter, we read this in the 11th verse. Through faith
also, Sarah herself received strength to conceive seed, and was delivered of a child
when she was past age, because she judged him faithful who had
promised. And then as we go on in this
chapter, we read in verse 17, by faith, Abraham, when he was
tried, tempted, tested, offered up Isaac, and he that received
the promises offered up his only begotten son, of whom it was
said that in Isaac shall thy seed be called, accounting that
God was able to raise him up, even from the dead, from whence
also he received him in a figure. Well, it's good that we have
a record of that, that Paul was able to refer to and to confirm
the faith that was given to Abraham. And then what happened? Well,
Abraham was told to stop He was blessed with that wonderful confirmation
that he feared God. What a testimony that is, isn't
it? To think of that in our lives, when God speaks and tells us
that he knows that we, unworthy sinners of the earth, fear God. And it was, you see, the testimony
because he had obeyed Almighty God in that which he'd been told
to do. And just let's remind ourselves
it appeared an impossible situation. Things which are impossible with
men are possible with God. And God clearly showed to Abraham
the fulfilment of that truth. And so there was a need for a
lamb. Abraham had told his son God
would provide a lamb. Where was it coming from? Abraham lifted up his eyes and
looked and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by
his horns. Now, you may think that's interesting,
but it's an interesting detail. And it's an interesting detail
because a lamb in the Passover had to be taken without blemish. And if that ram had been caught
in the thicket with all the thorns and that, he wouldn't have been
in a perfect condition. But he was just caught. with
his horns and horns of course are not affected really by thorns
and that so we see how God graciously fulfilled that way back years
before the Passover was instituted and yet ordained in this specific
way and we see here the fulfillment of God's detail God's plans being
worked out in detail. So we can easily pass over something
like that and think it's irrelevant. Well it's very relevant really.
And then we're told he took the ram and offered him up for a
burnt offering in the stead of his son. And of course what this
declares to us very gloriously is substitution. and the substitution
of the Lamb for Isaac. And what does it picture for
us today? It pictures the Lord Jesus Christ
being the Lamb of God who was offered up in our place to bear
our sins, to take away our sins. The glorious illustration. It's a very simple illustration. We can look back, can't we? We
can rejoice in what it sets before us. The glorious doctrine it
is of substitution. To think that you and I as utterly
unworthy sinners are able to thank God that He gave His only
begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but
have everlasting life and oh we have that picture and then
of course we go to Calvary and what do we see there? we see
the Lord Jesus Christ suffering in our place, dying in our place
bearing the punishment instead Well these illustrations in the
Old Testament really just clarify, don't they, the wonderful true
picture we have in the New Testament. And so it's wonderful how Abraham
then called the name of the place Jehovah-Jireh. And what that
means is, in the mount of the Lord it shall be seen. And it was seen, very clearly,
very simply. In one sense, it would have been
very difficult to have produced a more simple illustration than
we have here in this account. And when we think of it, again
we have a greater depth because we can see that Abraham offered
up his only son and we can see that God the Father, God the
Father offered up his only begotten Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. So you see the picture we have
gets more glorious and more wonderful. What an illustration it shows
to us of God's glorious faithfulness to unworthy sinners. Because as John the Baptist spoke
those glorious words, Behold the Lamb of God that taketh away
the sin of the world. And of course at that stage it
wasn't clear how that was to be fulfilled, what was to occur,
but nonetheless it was a glorious statement, a wonderful truth,
and really a confirmation of the picture we have here in this
account of Abraham and Isaac and Mount Moriah. So what a mercy
it is because God then, you see, he came and he spoke to Abraham. The angel of the Lord called
unto Abraham out of heaven the second time. And he said, by
myself have I sworn, saith the Lord, for because thou hast done
this thing, and hast not withheld thy Son, thine only Son, that
in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply
thy seed, as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which
is upon the seashore, and thy seed shall possess the gate of
his enemies. And in thy seed shall all the
nations of the earth be blessed, because thou hast obeyed my voice,
and Abraham returned unto his young men and they rose up and
went together to Beersheba and Abraham dwelt at Beersheba well
it's a wonderful account which is worthy of remembering worthy
remembering and we may think well yes but how did Abraham
How did he see this position? Well, thankfully, the Lord Jesus
tells us. And we can read in the Gospel
of John, and in the 8th chapter, right towards the end of the
8th chapter, we read these words which Jesus spoke. And in the
56th verse of this chapter, Jesus speaks, your father, Abraham,
rejoiced to see my day and he saw it and was glad. Again, that's a wonderful revelation
to read, isn't it? And again, it's It's singular
because we don't read much about the patriarchs realizing the
reality of the Messiah and how he would come and yet you see
Abraham had been gloriously blessed in that wonderful occasion where
he had been used to portray the wonder of this blessing that
we today are partakers of to realize that Jesus himself, himself, obeyed the law of God. Abraham
obeyed what God told him to. The Savior obeyed his father
and did his will and blessedly because he did. we today by His
grace can believe that it was done for us unworthy sinners
of the earth what an amazing what an amazing truth it is when
you think you can look back and go back to Genesis and you can
go back of course to the time of the fall and see how God came
and spoke to Adam and Eve and then the wonderful fulfillment
these things. The wonderful prophecies which
were completed and of course some are still to be completed
with regard to the Saviour's return. We'll never despise the
Old Testament, never despise what it says. Those great and
glorious truths often we fail to observe the secret of the
Lord which is hidden in these great truths in the Old Testament. But this morning we've just been
able to think upon these truths and to realise of course that
Abraham's life was wrapped up in the promise of God with regard
to Isaac. If Isaac had died then you see
The promise would not have been fulfilled. But Abraham was given
faith to believe the Lord would provide. And it should be an
encouragement to us in our little lives as we journey on to realize
that we worship the same God, the same almighty God, and that
nothing is too hard for our God. And there's an illustration of
something which was hard, and yet God had a perfect plan. And my friends, you should realize,
we should realize, that God has a perfect plan for you and me,
if we are his children. A perfect plan. And that perfect
plan will bring us safe home at last to glory. And that perfect plan will direct
us to adore our glorious Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, and to
rejoice in the wonderful plan of salvation. You see, God's
people don't get to glory without an understanding of the great
truths of God. The great truth of their salvation. Because we have many examples
in the Word of God and we have that outstanding example, I suppose,
of the thief. That thief on the cross who acknowledged
the Lord as God. This man hath done nothing amiss. And then that prayer to the Lord
Jesus Christ, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy
kingdom. The Lord directs us and brings
us into situations where we find and prove the truth of God's
word. And we realize that the great
plan of salvation was worked out in accordance with that which
God had determined in eternity past. It wasn't any trial. It wasn't anything which was,
we'll see if this works. It was ordained. And my friends,
what God ordained with regard to Abraham, what he ordained
with regard to Isaac, he has also ordained with regard to
each one of his people. how wonderful that is to think
in our lives that he's ordained to teach us all that we need
to know to bring a safe home to glory. He gives us That wonderful
spiritual understanding. In the days of Nehemiah and Ezra,
they were blessed with that ability to give the people that were
preached to the understanding. of the Word of God. Now in their
day, of course, there were many things which weren't clear like
they are for us today. But yet, they're blessed with
that understanding. And my friends, it's important
for us today to have a right and a spiritual understanding
of the things of God. And we shouldn't think, that's
just too difficult for me I can't understand that and shut the
book and pack up and go to bed or whatever you should pray over
it that God will open our eyes to
see wondrous things out of his law that was what David desired
didn't he we've gone through that haven't we in the 119th
Psalm David's desire David's prayer was to have his eyes open
to see these great truths. And my friends, don't listen
to the devil who says, well, you'll never understand that.
Remember, God is able and God is willing to make all truth
revealed to us so that we can rejoice in it. Because in rejoicing
in these things, It enables us then to come to a right understanding
of God's love and mercy and to be able to testify as God reveals
these things to us, to those that we come in contact with.
It's easy, isn't it? To just go on our way and assume
that we don't understand and therefore carry on and ignore
it. We should be concerned. You know, we read of those wonderful
characters in the Word of God who searched the Scriptures to
see whether these things were so. Never weary of searching
the Scriptures. Never think they're too involved. He is able and willing to reveal
to us those great truths which will be For his honour and glory. And we will be for our soul's
strengthening. Indeed our soul's strength and
encouragement. Well we have an account which
we've just considered briefly this morning with regards to
Abraham, Abraham's faith. We need to remember, we need
to take it on board, we need to remember the significance
of those things which I've just briefly mentioned this morning.
meditate on them, ponder them and realise how great God is
because it was the appointed time in Abraham's life to reveal
this great and glorious truth and so may we be able to come
and have these truths revealed to us and the result will be,
I believe, that we will come and praise God from whom all
blessings flow. To praise God that he's opened
our blind eyes to behold these wondrous things out of his law,
to unstop our deaf ears so that we hear the voice of the gospel. It enters in and we rejoice. Well may we all Be wonderfully
blessed with the glorious grace of God, spiritual understanding
of the wonderful truths, and rejoice in God the Father, and
God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Amen.