I almost need a moment to collect
myself. Heard it said, you can't preach
the gospel from Genesis 22. You can't preach. That song doesn't
move your heart to want to worship. I'm afraid it's dead. All right. Excuse me. I titled our message
this morning, The Faith of Abraham. Now, nearly everybody in the
world knows something about Abraham and his faith. Without question,
Abraham had great faith, didn't he? But do you know every believer
everywhere has the same faith that Abraham had? Well, what
is the faith of Abraham? Well, number one, Abraham's faith
was founded upon the Word of God. God told Abraham one night,
looking up at the stars. He said, you're going to have
a son. And your seed should be as those stars. And the Messiah,
the Savior, is going to come through that son. And Abraham
believed the spoken word of God. And scripture says Abraham was
justified by faith when he believed God. He wasn't justified by what
he did. He was justified by believing
in and trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ. And all these years later,
if you and I know the Lord, we have saving faith. It's based
upon the same thing. The word of God. Everything we
believe, we believe because it's written in God's word. Abraham's faith was founded upon
the word of God, and second, Abraham's faith was in the Lord
Jesus Christ. He was to come. Abraham's faith
wasn't just that, oh, well, everything's going to turn out all right.
Abraham's faith was in a specific person, the Lord Jesus Christ. He believed that all of his salvation
would be accomplished by this Messiah who was coming through
the seed of Isaac. Now let's look at our text this
morning, beginning in Hebrews chapter 11 and see if that's
not true. Hebrews 11 verse 17. By faith Abraham, when he was
tried, offered up Isaac. And he that had received the
promise has offered up his only begotten son, of whom it was
said that in Isaac shall thy seed be called." Now, faith has
to be tried. Faith has got to be tried to
be proven that it's genuine faith. The old Jews say Abraham had
10 severe trials in his life. And those trials all worked together
to strengthen and to prove Abraham's faith. And this last one, The
writer is writing about here is the 10th one. By far the hardest
of all. But hold your place there. Look
over at James chapter 2. This trial proved Abraham's faith
was genuine faith. And James tells us that in James
chapter 2 verse 20. But wilt thou know, O vain man,
that faith without works is dead? Was not Abraham our father justified
by works when he offered up Isaac, his son, upon the altar? Seest
thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was his faith
made perfect? And the scripture was fulfilled,
which said Abraham believed God, and he was imputed unto him for
righteousness, and he was called the friend of God. You see then
how that by works a man is justified and not by faith only. We're
not justified by our works, but our works justify, prove that
our faith in Christ is genuine. Our works prove we trust God
and we obey Him. Our works don't contribute anything
to that, but they prove our faith, our trust in Christ is genuine.
And this is a hard trial. God told Abraham to sacrifice
his son, his only son, And in his heart, Abraham did it. In
his heart, he killed his son and burned his body upon the
altar. And he would have done it physically,
too, if God hadn't stopped him from doing it. Now, why would
Abraham be willing to do such a horrible thing, such a painful
thing? In order to sacrifice his son,
Abraham was going to have to take Isaac and slit his throat.
and drain all of his life's blood out of his body. He's going to
have to take the body of his beloved son and cut it up in
four pieces. He's going to have to quarter
it and lay those pieces in order upon the wood and burn that body
until it's gone. Why would Abraham be willing
to do that? It's because he believed the word of God. God told Abraham
the Messiah is coming through Isaac. And Abraham believed God. He believed God would keep his
word even if God had to do a miracle to do it. Verse 19, accounting
that God was able to raise him up even from the dead. From whence
also he received him in a figure. Abraham believed that God would
raise Isaac from the dead. That's how he received him from
the dead in a figure. He received him from the dead
in a figure because in his heart, he already killed him. So we
see Abraham's faith is found upon the word of God, don't we?
Well, the same thing's true for us if God saved us. The word
of God is true. So I believe it. Even though
I can't understand a bunch of it seems like I believe what
I believe because it's written in the word of God. God wrote
it in his word and God given faith just believes it. Now look
over at Genesis chapter 22. I want to show you, see, Abraham's
faith was founded upon the Word of God. Now let me show you how
Abraham's faith looked forward to Christ, the Savior, who would
come through Isaac's seed. Genesis 22, verse 1. 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. And he said, take now thy son,
thy only son, Isaac, whom thou lovest. and get thee into the
land of Moriah and offer him for a burnt offering upon one
of the mountains which I will tell thee of." Now you know Abraham
did not understand why God was telling him to do such a thing.
You know he didn't understand it. You and I wouldn't either.
Now we wouldn't understand that. The worst experience of my life
was seeing my daughter in just absolute uncontrolled pain. It was the worst experience of
my life. I cannot imagine being the one inflicting that upon
her. Killing her. Cutting her body in pieces. I
can't imagine that. Abraham did not understand how
Isaac's the promised son. I waited for him for all these
years. He's the miracle birth. How can sacrificing this son
work together for God's glory? Abraham didn't understand. And you know what? This is just
my conjecture. I bet he didn't discuss this
with Sarah that night either. Sarah wouldn't understood either.
Abraham spent a sleepless night, got up and got walking in the
morning. Even though he didn't understand,
Abraham obeyed. because his faith was founded
upon the word of God. He believed God would do what
he said he'd do. So he got up and got going. Verse three, 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 he claimed
the wood for the burnt offering and rose up and went under the
place of which God had told him. Now here, Abraham begins to be
a picture of God, the father. Abraham was the one that prepared
all the elements for this sacrifice. He put them all in place. Abraham
did that. He didn't have servants do it.
He did it. You know, that's just exactly
what God the father did. He prepared everything that was
necessary for the sacrifice of his son. The father's the one
who gave the law that required a blood sacrifice. The father's
the one who gave the law that required there be death for sin. God's the one who put the Romans
in charge at the very time that Christ was born. God's the one
who put the Romans in charge. God put them in power, and the
Roman form of capital punishment was crucifixion. The Jews' form
of capital punishment was stoning, but Christ couldn't be stoned,
could he? He must be crucified. God said, curse it as everyone
that hangeth upon the tree. And it's God that put the Romans
in power so that the son would die upon a tree, so we'd know
he died bearing the curse of the sin of his people. God is
the one who grew the tree that they used to take the wood to
make the cross to crucify God's son. God's the one who put ore
in the ground and gave men the ability to mine that ore to make
the nails that would be driven through his hands and through
his feet. God gave the people gathered
there together that day. He gave them life. And he gave
them bread. He gave them a tongue to cry,
crucify him, crucify him, give us promise. The father prepared
everything necessary for the sacrifice of his son. In verse
four, then on the third day, Abraham lifted up his eyes and
he saw the place of far off. Now Abraham walked for three
days. Now remember, he'd already sacrificed
Isaac in his heart, hadn't he? He believed God would raise him
from the dead. But he walked in three days in
pain. That didn't take away the pain
of having to kill his son. And for three painful days, Abraham
walked in dread. When is this place, God going
to show me the place? I've got to sacrifice my son. But already you're starting to
see a picture here of Christ. and who Abraham trusted. Three days ago, Abraham killed
Isaac in his heart. He's about to receive him from
the dead in a figure. The Lord Jesus Christ wouldn't
be received from the dead in a figure. But in truth, the father
did put his son to death. But he received him from the
dead three days later, didn't he? See, already we're seeing
a picture of Christ here. Verse 5, Abraham said unto his
young men, abide ye here with the ass and I and the lad will
go yonder and worship and come again to you. Now there's no
doubt Abraham knew he and Isaac were both coming down from that
mountain. He said, we're coming back to you. Wait here on us.
We're coming back to you. Now Abraham was sure he's going
to sacrifice Isaac on that mountain, but he was just as sure God raised
him from the dead because Abraham believed God's word. But notice
here, Abraham told his young men, you stay here, Isaac and
I are going to go worship. Worship. He didn't say, wait
here, I'm going to have to go do something horrible. He said,
you wait here, Isaac and I are going to go worship. Now that
tells me something. There's several things that we
must have in order to truly worship God. Number one is obedience. We've got to bow. Now, God's
got to break our stiff neck and make us bow. We've got to bow
to God's way of salvation. We've got to bow to God's way
of worship. Abraham didn't understand, but
he bowed, didn't he? There's got to be obedience.
God is not worshipped the way I think he should be worshipped.
God is worshipped how God said he's to be worshipped. in the
Lord Jesus Christ through his sacrifice. I got a bow to that. If I'm going to worship God.
Number two, if there's going to be true worship, there's got
to be a blood sacrifice on this day. This day, Abraham and Isaac
are going to go up on top of this mountain. God's not going
to be worshiped without blood. If Abraham doesn't shed blood,
God's not going to be worshiped. Same thing's true today. God
cannot be worshiped without the sacrifice of Christ. Now, we
may do a lot of religious things that make our flesh feel good.
We might come up with all kinds of special lighting and special
music and special incense and special candles and special smoke
that makes this flesh feel real religious and feel real good
about ourselves. But it's not worship without
the preaching of the Lord Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Without the preaching of the
blood of Christ. And I just said it, saying, well,
the blood of Christ was shed. You know, it could be shed for
everybody. We don't know. Preaching the blood of Christ is telling,
why was that blood shed? It wasn't shed offered to you
and me. It was shed for the Father. It
was offered to the Father against whom we've sinned. That blood
was shed for the remission of sins, to please the Father, to
enable Him to be both just and justifier. The preaching of the
blood must tell us for whom it was shed. It's shed for God's
elect and only God's elect. And everyone for whom that blood
is shed is redeemed. Christ is not a failure. Not
one drop of his blood was shed in vain. Thirdly, we must tell
what that blood accomplished. If we're going to preach the
blood now, we've got to tell what did it accomplish. It satisfied the
Father and accomplished the eternal redemption of his people. If
there's going to be worship, there's got to be a blood sacrifice. And thirdly, if there's going
to be true worship, there must be faith in Christ. We cannot
worship God without faith in Christ. Abraham went up that
mountain in faith, fully believing, God keep his word, that he'd
raise Isaac from the dead. And you and I, still today, we
cannot worship God without faith. crucified, risen Savior. All right, verse 7. And Isaac
spake unto Abraham his father. He said, My father. And he said,
Here am I, my son. And he said, Behold, the fire
and the wood. Oh, but here's the question. Where's the land
for a burnt offering? Now, this is a very good verse
to show us parents the importance of teaching our children the
gospel. If we love our children and if
we're faithful to them, we will teach them the scriptures. We'll
teach them who and what they are, that they've got no hope
in themselves. Our precious babies are sinners
and they've got to have a sacrifice for sin. If we love them and
we're faithful to them, we'll teach them that. And we'll tell
them this. The only sacrifice that will
put away your sin is the sacrifice of Christ. Just any old sacrifice
won't do. Just any old preaching won't
do. Just any old religion won't do. It's got to be the sacrifice
of Christ. It's got to be the preaching
of Christ or it won't do your soul any good. Abraham taught
Isaac that, didn't he? He taught Isaac how God's to
be worshipped. God's got to be worshipped in
a blood sacrifice. There's got to be a lamb slain.
That's why Isaac asked this question. I see everything's necessary
but the lamb. Where's the lamb? I love, love, love Abraham's
answer to him in verse 8. And Abraham said, my son, God
will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering. So they went
both of them together. There's a whole lot more to that
verse than meets the natural eye. I want to give you three
meanings of God will provide himself a lamb for the burnt
offering. Number one, God will provide himself as the lamb because
he's the only perfect lamb that can put away sin. Another lamb
won't do. So in untold grace, God will
provide himself as the lamb for the sacrifice. Number two, God
will provide a lamb for himself. God will provide a lamb that
will satisfy His holiness and His justice. Now before God can
ever do anything for you and me, God's first got to do something
for Himself. He's got to have a Lamb that
will satisfy His justice. He's got to have a sacrifice
that will enable Him to be both just. He first must be just before
He justifies His people. He's got to have something done
to satisfy Himself. And then he can have mercy on
you and me. So you know what God's going to do? He's going
to provide a lamb for himself. A lamb that will satisfy all
of his requirements. And then thirdly, the Lord will
provide a lamb for his people. God will provide the lamb that
will take away the sin of his people. God will provide a lamb
that is exactly what his people need. A lamb. Oh, John said,
the lamb of God was taken away the sin of the world. Here's
the one, the perfectly, the one who obeyed God perfectly. He
got perfect blood. He got perfect righteousness
that he gives to his people to make them righteous. And by his
sacrifice, the shedding of his precious, perfect blood to put
away the sin of his people forever. And Isaac said, I like that answer. That answer satisfies me. And
so they both went up to the top of the mountain to worship. Verse
9, they came to the place which God had told him of. 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. Now here,
Isaac is a clear picture of Christ the Savior. Abraham, a picture
of God the Father. Isaac, a picture of Christ our
Savior. Now, Abraham was no little boy here. do the math and read
the writers. He's at least in his 20s. More
than likely, Isaac is in his 30s at this time. And Abraham's
a real old man. Well, there's just no way Abraham
can catch Isaac and tie him up against Isaac's will. He just
can't do it. There's no way Abraham is going
to be strong enough to overpower this young man in the prime and
strength of his life and lift him up and put him on the altar.
unless Isaac is willing for this to happen. Now, they must have
had a conversation about this thing. And Abraham told Isaac,
he said, son, this is what God told me to do. He told me to
bring you here, to offer you as a burnt offering unto the
Lord. And Isaac, here's all God's promises to me. God promised
you. He promised that you'd be my son. And he promised me the
Messiah is coming through. He promised me that. And so I
believe God. I'm confident that God will raise
you from the dead. I'm confident of that. God keeps,
always keeps his word. God's never broken a promise
and he's not about to start now. And Isaac agreed. He had to agree.
He agreed in faith and he willingly laid himself down on that altar
as a picture of Christ our Savior. See, Isaac is Abraham's only
son. I know he's got a son, Ishmael.
He's been thrust out by this time. Ishmael's out there somewhere.
But now, Ishmael is the son of the flesh, isn't he? Also, Paul
told us in the book of Galatians, Ishmael represents the works
of the flesh. This is what the flesh can produce.
But Isaac, now he's the son of God's promise. He's the son that
came from this miraculous birth. He's a picture of the Lord Jesus
Christ, God's only begotten son, born in a miraculous birth, born
of a woman without the seed of a man. And Isaac is a picture
of Christ because Isaac is the son of Abraham's love. Oh, how Abraham loved that promised
son, how he loved him. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
beloved of his father. all of the father's loves in
his son. And then Isaac willingly laid himself down upon that altar. He willingly gave himself to
be sacrificed. Just like our Lord Jesus Christ,
he willingly laid down his life for the sheep. No man taketh
it from me, he said. I lay it down on myself. And
there's Isaac. He's laying there tied to that
altar. Abraham's standing above him with that knife. He got that
knife in his hand, stretched out to do what he'd already done
in his heart, to kill Isaac. Verse 10 says, Abraham stretched
forth his hand and took the knife to slay his son. Now, can you
imagine what's in Abraham's heart at that very moment? As a human
father, thinking about that is more than I can bear. But remember,
this is done as a picture of redemption. Abraham's a picture
of God, the father, and I got a real good idea of what was
in the heart of the father as he raised the sword of his justice
to plunge it into his son. I got a real good idea. It was
pleasure. It pleased the Lord to bruise
him. What was in God's heart, the
father's heart, the moment he raised the sword of his justice
to plunge it into his son, it was wrath, wrath against sin. And it was his pleasure at punishing
sin. That wasn't in Abraham's heart,
I'm sure, but it was in God the Father's heart because he's holy.
Verse 11, the angel of the Lord called unto him out of heaven
and said, Abraham, Abraham. And he said, Here am I. 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, thy only son from me. You see here, this is Abraham's
faith was tried, and it was proven to be genuine, wasn't it? Nobody can doubt after this,
Abraham believed God. This wasn't just lip service.
Abraham believed God. He was willing to sacrifice his
son when God told him to. He believed God. But now Abraham,
or God didn't try Abraham like this so God would know that Abraham's
faith was genuine. God already knew that, didn't
he? He's the one that put genuine faith in the heart of Abraham.
God tried Abraham this way so Abraham would know his faith
is genuine. And God tried Abraham like this
and recorded it like this so we would know that this is part
of God's purpose when he tries you and me. It's to reveal genuine
faith in Christ. Now, verse 13. Abraham lifted
up his eyes and looked. And behold, behind him a ram
caught in the 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. Now, Isaac quits being a picture
of Christ and he starts being a picture of God's elect. And
the ram is a picture of Christ. I thought of that song. I was
guilty with nothing to say. They were coming to take me away
at the last possible moment. Christ spoke. That's what happened here. This
is the gospel of substitution. There lay Isaac on that altar,
ready to receive the judgment of God. There's no hope of a
free other than in God's mercy. At the last possible moment,
God said, Abraham, stop delivering from going down into the pit.
I found a ransom. I found the ransom that I provided. And Abraham looked behind him,
and lo and behold, there was a ram caught in the thicket by
his horns. And Abraham took Isaac off that
altar. And Abraham went and laid hold
of that ram and put that ram up on that altar in Isaac's place. He slit that ram's throat with
all of its blood. spill out. He quartered it, laid
the pieces of that ram's flesh in order on the wood, and lit
the fire. He stood back by his son. He watched that sacrifice. Abraham and Isaac understood
substitution like they never understood it before. What a
clear, vivid picture to them. Isaac staying there beside his
father, living, because the ram died in his place. And Isaac
is free in justice. God demanded death. There's death,
wasn't there? It's just the death of the substitute.
Abraham and Isaac learned about substitution and satisfaction
that day. Isaac went up that mountain with
a death sentence hanging over his head. And he walked down
that mountain free from worry because God was satisfied in
the death of the substitute. I just imagine, even when Isaac
was an old, old man, he never grew tired of telling this story,
how God delivered him, the substitute. His children and grandchildren
would think, oh boy, here he goes again. Oh, I've heard this
story a thousand times. If I just had a nickel for every
time he told this story. Some of those children and grandchildren
would say, oh, tell us again. Tell me again. Tell us, oh, one
more time, how Grandpa Abraham was going to kill you and how
he killed that ram in your stead. Tell me one more time. Tell me
that old, old story one more time. And Isaac would just be,
and he'd tell the story of substitution and satisfaction. In the sacrifice
of the Lord Jesus Christ, he'd tell the children, that ram,
that ram picture is more important. The ram of God's coming. And
by his sacrifice, he can put away the sin of his people. That's
the one I trust. Now you look to him. That's what
Isaac told him. See, this ram is a picture of
Christ. Caught over there in the thicket
by his horns. By his horns. Not just caught,
but by his horns. The business end of a ram is
his horns. That's his power. He was caught by his power. That's
the Lord Jesus Christ. Friend, Christ did not die in
weakness. I'll die in weakness someday.
Christ died in power. It's power to save. Those Roman
soldiers and that mob that came to take our Lord Jesus, they
didn't take Him and make Him unwillingly go with Him any more
than Abraham could have took Isaac. No. He didn't go there
against His will. He went with them willingly.
He went, not in weakness, but His power to save. It was His
power to save that compelled Him to go with them. To be beaten. To be mocked. to be crucified
and died. Because if he doesn't go, his
people will never be saved. It's his power to save that compelled
him to go. It was the power of his love
that compelled him to go. It was the power of his love
for his father. His desire was that his father be glorified. In our Lord's great high priestly
prayer in John 17, what's his first concern? The glory of the
Father. He loved his father. If he didn't
go to the cross, his father would never be glorified. We'd never
see God's greatest glory in showing mercy to sinners. And it was
his love for his people that compelled him to go. That compelled
him to allow himself to be taken as their substitute. Because
it's the only way the people he loved would be saved. It's
his power that compelled him to go. As the chief priest, the
scribes and Pharisees mocked him and said, come down from
the cross, we'll believe you. It wasn't the nails that held him
there. Oh, he could have come down. He had the power to come
down, but it was his power to save that held him to the cross.
He had the power, but if he came down, his father wouldn't glorify
him. His people would not be saved because there's no other
substitute with the power to save. You remember when our Lord told
the Pharisees, Abraham saw my day and was glad. And they laughed
at him and said, you're not 50 years old. How could Abraham
have seen your day? This is in Genesis 22. This day
is the day our Lord was referring to. Abraham's faith was based upon
the word of God. He obeyed God. He believed God. But suddenly, Abraham saw by
faith the Lord Jesus Christ. I imagine it took his breath
by faith. He suddenly understood what all
this was about. He saw that ram as a picture
of Christ. He saw that ram is a picture
of the Messiah coming through my son. That God's going to come
as a man to be sacrificed for the sin of his people. Abraham
saw that. He understood that God one day
is going to send his son, not Abraham's son, God's son, into
the world to save his people from their sin. and that God
would be satisfied with the death of Christ, our substitute, that
he let his people go because of the death of Christ, our substitute,
that God would be merciful to his people because of the death
of Christ, our substitute, because his people would be made righteous
through the death of Christ, our substitute. Abraham saw his
own sin put away by the death of Christ, the substitute. Abraham is glad. He was glad
Isaac was standing beside him. But you know what made Abraham
glad? By faith he saw Christ. And he trusted Christ. And he
was glad for God's wisdom in providing a substitute, a perfect
substitute. He was glad for God's mercy in
Christ. He was glad for a sure salvation
in Christ our substitute. He was glad. Can you imagine
how glad he was? So he said in verse 14, Abraham
called the name of that place Jehovah-Jireh. The Lord will
provide. As it said, to this day in the
mount of the Lord, it shall be seen. Now you write this down. The Lord will provide. The Lord
will provide. Whatever it is God's people need,
He'll provide it. He won't provide everything we
want. But if you need it, the Lord will provide it. He'll provide
it. He'll provide for everything we need. He'll provide for comfort
for his people. He'll provide peace of heart.
But chiefly, far more importantly, preeminently, God will provide
his own son as a sacrifice for the sin of his people. God will
provide the substitute. And this is such good news. This
ought to make us glad. Everything that God requires
of me, he's provided in Christ's substitute. He's provided a sacrifice. He's provided a blood atonement.
He's made unto us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption.
It's all provided in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, sin must be
put away. In order for God to be merciful
to his people, their sins got to be put away. That job's got
to be done. Well, God's going to provide
them what he'll do. Abraham rejoiced to see the Lord will see to it.
If you ever had a job need to be done, some of your children
need to be done. He said, don't worry, I'll see to it. That's what God
tells his people. Sin must be put away. That work's
got to be done. You can't do it. But don't you
worry, I'll see to it. I'll provide the substitute.
And he will finish the work in righteousness. That's Abraham's
faith. Based upon the word of God and
the trust of Christ. He saw Christ, he saw him coming
and was glad. And everybody God saves has the
exact same faith. Now, maybe it's not the same
degree as what we think Abraham's faith was, but it's the exact
same faith. Everybody God saves believes
the same word of God. And they all trust their soul
to the Lord Jesus Christ. Everybody who God saves has one
hope. Christ. He's my only hope. And that makes
them glad. That makes them so glad they
wouldn't want salvation any other way other than in Christ the
substitute. And this morning, right this
very minute, if Christ is your only hope, if He's the only hope
you've got, you can walk down those steps this morning just
as glad going back to your house as Abraham was glad walking down
that mountain because God provided the substitute. That's the gospel
of substitution and satisfaction. Let's bow together in prayer.
Father, how we thank you for such a clear, clear picture of
redemption that's in our Lord Jesus Christ. Father, how can we thank you?
How can human lips ever thank you How can we thank You enough? How can we thank You rightly?
How can we praise You right? That You would give Your only
Son to be the substitute, the sacrifice for Your people. And that by His bloody sacrifice,
He has put away the sin of Your people forever and made us accepted
in the Beloved. Father, we thank You for giving
faith. We thank You for giving Your people faith in Christ.
We know we couldn't Figure this out on our own. We couldn't believe
on our own, but that you give faith in Christ to your people. To see Him and enable us to be
glad just like our Father Abraham. And Father, I beg of you that
you give this faith. Each one gathered here this morning. Give us faith in Christ. That
we might see Him and rest in Him and be glad in Him. The war's over. The victory's
won. Let us leave here this morning
rejoicing in Christ our Savior. It's in his precious name we
pray and give thanks.