In Stephen's message in Acts
chapter 7, he is giving a summary of the entire Old Testament. And it's an amazing sermon. And it ends up costing him his
life. After he preached this sermon,
they picked up stones and they stoned him to death. They were
so upset with what he said. And What I'm wanting to do is go
over everything he said slowly. We might be in this chapter for
several months, but look at verse eight once again. And he gave
him the covenant of circumcision. We considered that last week.
And so Abraham begat Isaac and circumcised him the eighth day. I've entitled this message, Isaac. Isaac. 35 times in both the Old
Testament and New Testament, God identifies himself as the
God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob. And I think it's amazing
when the Lord was dealing with some people who were denying
the resurrection. He said, God is the God of Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob. He's not the God of the dead,
but of the living. Now, would I have ever gone there
to demonstrate the resurrection? No, I wouldn't have. I wouldn't
have had a clue how to do that. And that gives us some idea of
how big and broad and infinite the scriptures are, and really
how little our understanding is, because I would have never
have thought that. Now, there is less biographical
information given about Isaac than Abraham or Jacob. And I'm
going to try to deal with Jacob next week and the 12 patriarchs
the week after that. But I tried to look at the difference
of the time that's devoted to these men in the scriptures.
And there's not a lot of time to Isaac, much more to Abraham,
about three times more. And I was surprised by this.
There is over twice more time devoted to Jacob. His name is
mentioned twice more times than Abraham's is. And if you count
Israel, probably 10 times more when he's named Israel. So there's
so much regarding Jacob and God calls himself the God of Jacob.
Now, for you and I to understand the gospel of Christ, we're going
to have to have some understanding of this man called Isaac. His name means laughter. God has made me to laugh in joy
at the birth of Isaac. I turn to Genesis 12. This is when the Lord first appears
to Abraham. Now the Lord had said unto Abram,
get thee out of thy country and from thy kindred and from thy
father's house into a land that I will Show thee, and I will
make of thee a great nation. And I will bless thee, and make
thy name great, and thou shalt be a blessing. And I will bless
them that bless thee, I'll curse them that curse thee, and in
thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed. Through
your seed, every family of the earth will be blessed. Turn to
Genesis 15. After these things, the word of the Lord came unto
Abram in a vision saying, fear not Abram, I'm thy shield and
thy exceeding great reward. And Abram said, Lord, God, what
wilt thou give me? Saying, I go childless and the
steward of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus. And Abram said,
behold, to me thou has given no seed. And lo, one born in
my house is mine heir. And behold, the word of the Lord
came unto him, saying, This shall not be thine heir, but he that
shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir.
And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Now look toward heaven,
and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them. And he said
unto him, So shall thy seed be. And he believed in the Lord and
it was counted to him for righteousness. 11 years pass and still no child. What all's happening to you in
the last 11 years? A lot of water under the bridge
in that time. Still no child. God has not fulfilled
his promise as of yet. Chapter 16. Now Sarah, Abram's
wife, bear him no children. And she had a handmaid, an Egyptian
whose name was Hagar. And Sarah said unto Abram, Now
before I go on reading, you know that this is quoted in the New
Testament, in Galatians chapter 4, as being a picture of the
two covenants, what's going on here, the covenant of grace and
the covenant of work. So this lets me know that everything
in the Bible all these Old Testament stories. Now once again, I would
have never read this and thought, this is a picture of works and
grace. I wouldn't have come up with that in a million years.
But Paul tells us it is in Galatians 4. And we know to look at every
scripture in the Old Testament as having something to do with
illustrating the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, without any
exception. They're all like that. Now let's go on reading. And
Sarah said unto Abram, behold now, The Lord hath restrained
me from bearing. She knew why she hadn't had any
children up to this point. The Lord kept her from it. She
believed in the absolute sovereignty and purpose of God in all things.
And she didn't have a baby yet. I pray thee, go in unto my maid,
and it may be that I may obtain children by her. Was this wrong? Absolutely. It was a sinful act. Remember in chapter 12 when Pharaoh
took Sarah to be in his harem and he hadn't gone into her yet
and the Lord plagued him and he said, why have you done this?
You've got me up with somebody's wife and you almost got me in
trouble. They knew it was wrong. And what he was doing was dead
wrong when Sarah made this suggestion. It was immoral on her part. When
he followed her suggestion, it was immoral on his part. It was
wrong. But he did it. And in this, we're
given a beautiful illustration of the gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Now, remember this. God brings good out of evil.
Aren't you thankful for that? God brings good out of evil. And through this evil event,
we're given a beautiful picture of the gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ. And Sarah said unto Abram, behold, now the Lord hath restrained
me from bearing. Now, here's what she's saying.
Abraham, God's promise is not gonna come
to pass unless we do our part. I mean, we're just sitting here
fatalistic, waiting for something to happen. We need to be proactive. We need to do our part in order
to make God's promise come to pass. Now, obviously, it's not
happening through me. I haven't had a baby yet. Been
11 years. So let's initiate something.
You go into Hagar, and I'll have a baby through her. And Abram
hearkened to the voice of Sarah. And Sarah Abram's wife took Hagar,
her maid, the Egyptian, after Abram had dwelt 10 years in the
land of Canaan, and gave her to her husband, Abram, to be
his wife. And he went into Hagar, and she
conceived. And when she saw that she had
conceived, Her mistress was despised in her eyes. She looked down
at Sarah. Look what I have done, which
you could not do. And she despised Sarah. She looked down on her. She looked
in some kind of, I'm better than you. I'm superior to you. She despised her. Now, and Sarah
said unto Abram, my wrong be upon thee. You shouldn't have
done this. You shouldn't have done this. I don't care if I
did suggest it. You shouldn't have done it. You knew it was
wrong. It's wrong. My wrong be upon thee. This is
all your fault. I've given my maid into thy bosom.
She was a pretty rough lady, wasn't she? The way she's dealing
with this. I've given my maid into thy bosom,
and when she saw that she'd conceived, I was despised in her eyes. The
Lord judge between me and you. The Lord can see how this is
wrong. And Abram said unto Sarah, behold, thy maid is in thy hand.
Do to her as it pleaseth thee. And when Sarah dealt hardly with
her, she fled from her face. Now, what all did Sarah do to
this woman? I don't know, but she ran away. She was with child,
she was pregnant, but she couldn't deal with Sarah's wrath anymore. Sarah made it hard on her and
she ran away. Verse nine of this same chapter. This is after she'd ran away.
And the angel of the Lord said unto her, return to thy mistress
and submit yourself unto her hands. And the angel of the Lord
said, I will multiply thy seed exceedingly that it shall not
be numbered for multitude. And the angel of the Lord said
unto her, behold, thou art with child and shall bear a son and
shall call his name Ishmael because the Lord hath heard thy affliction
and he'll be a wild man. His hand will be against every
man, and every man's hand against him. And he shall dwell in the
presence of all his brethren. And she called the name of the
Lord that spake unto her, thou God, seest me. Isn't that wonderful? Thou God, seest me. Right now, all things are naked. and open with the eyes of Him
whom we have to do. And the only way that you can
take any comfort in God seeing you is if you know he sees you
in Christ. If he sees you in Christ, you're
not terrified by him seeing you all together. And this is what
she said regarding God. Thou, God, seest me. For she said, have I also looked
after where he seeth me? Wherefore the well was called
Beelahiroi. because it's between Kadesh and
Bered. Now chapter 17, beginning in
verse 15, And God said unto Abraham, As for Sarah thy wife, thou shalt
not call her name Sarah, but Sarah, but Sarah shall her name
be. Now the Addition of the word
H. It's the Hebrew letter for the
breath of life. Abram was changed to Abraham. He's going to be the father of
children. Sarah, who was barren, is going to be the mother of
children. God changed her name. Verse 16,
and I will bless her and give thee a son also of her. Yea,
I will bless her and she shall be a mother of nations. Kings
of people shall be of her. Then Abraham fell upon his face
and laughed and said in his heart, shall a child be born unto him
that's a hundred years old and shall Sarah that is 90 year old
bear And Abraham said unto God, oh, that Ishmael might live before
thee. He knew Sarah couldn't have a
child. She'd already gone through menopause.
There was no way that she was going to be with child. He said,
oh, let your blessing be upon Ishmael. Let him live before
you. Verse 19, and God said, Sarah
thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed, and thou shalt call his
name Isaac. And I will establish my covenant
with him for an everlasting covenant and with his seed after him.
And as for Ishmael, I've heard thee, behold, I blessed him and
I'll make him fruitful and will multiply him exceedingly. 12
princes shall he beget and I'll make him a great nation, but
my covenant will I establish with Isaac." Not Ishmael, Isaac. As a matter of fact, if you'll
remember in Genesis 22, when God appeared to Abraham, and
he was going to offer, he was commanded to offer up Isaac.
He said, take now thy son, thy only son, Isaac. Ishmael, salvation by works,
is never acknowledged a son, but by God. Verse 21, but my covenant will I establish
with Isaac. Sarah shall bear unto thee at
this time, this set time next year. And he left off talking
with him, and God went up to Abraham. I look in chapter 18,
verse 11. Still no child. 26 years later, 25 years later,
something like that. Now Abraham and Sarah were old. and well stricken in age, and
it ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of women. She had
gone through menopause, and it was over, and it was now impossible
for her to have a child. Therefore, well, let's back up. I should have started verse nine.
And they said unto him, where's Sarah thy wife? And he said,
behold, in the tent, And he said, I will certainly return unto
thee according to the time of life. And lo, Sarah, thy wife,
will have a son. And Sarah heard it in the tent
door which was behind him. And now Abraham and Sarah were
old and well stricken in age, and it ceased to be with Sarah
after the manner of women. Therefore Sarah laughed within
herself, saying, after I'm waxed old, shall I have pleasure, my
Lord, being old also? It's not going to happen. And
the Lord said unto Abraham, wherefore did Sarah laugh? Saying, shall
I have a surety bear a child which I may hold? Is anything
too hard for the Lord? I love that statement. Is anything
beyond his ability? At the time appointed, I will
return unto thee, and according to the time of life, and Sarah
shall have a son. Then Sarah denied the son. I
laugh not, for she was afraid. I reckon she was. I would have
been afraid, too. And he said, Nay, but thou didst laugh. I
think right there in the presence of the Lord, she denies it even
happened, but she did. It was the laugh of unbelief.
Chapter 21. A year later, and the Lord visited Sarah, as
he had said. And the Lord did unto Sarah as
he had spoken. Lord always does what he says
he's gonna do exactly as he spoke it. For Sarah conceived and bare
Abraham a son in his old age at the set time of which God
had spoken to him. And Abraham called the name of
the son that was born unto him, whom Sarah bore to him, Isaac. And Abraham circumcised his son
Isaac, being eight days old, as God had commanded him. And
Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born unto
him. And Sarah said, God hath made me laugh so that all here
will laugh with me. And she said, who would have
said unto Abraham that Sarah should have given children suck?
For I have born him a son in his old age. And the child grew
and was weaned. And Abraham made a great feast
the same day that Isaac was weaned. And Sarah saw the son of Hagar,
the Egyptian, which she had born unto Abraham, mocking. He was making fun of this. Wherefore
she said unto Abraham, cast out this bond woman and her son.
For the son of the bond woman shall not be here with my son,
even with Isaac. And the thing was very grievous
in Abraham's sight because of his son. Now Isaac's birth was
a supernatural birth according to the promise of God. Remember
anyone else like that? The Lord Jesus Christ. A supernatural
birth according to the promise of God. Now let's go to Galatians
4. Look at Paul's commentary on
this. Galatians chapter 4. Now he had introduced this epistle
to the Galatians saying, I marvel that you are so soon removed
from him that called you to the grace of Christ to another gospel. And what was that other gospel
they were going after? Works. Works. And look what Paul says in verse
21 of Galatians chapter four, tell me ye that desire to be
under the law. Do you not hear the law? Now, when I think of the law,
first thing that comes to my mind is 10 commandments. Thou
shalt have no other gods before me. Put nothing before God. The commandment regarding idolatry,
false images, false imaginations of God that fit in more conveniently
with your agenda. Don't take the name of God in
vain. His name is holy and reverent,
and we can never have enough reverence in the use of His name. Remember the Sabbath day to keep
it holy. Thou shalt honor thy father and
mother. Thou shalt not kill. And that
means more than physical murder. The Lord tells us to be angry
with your brother without a cause is murder. Thou shalt not commit
adultery. All sexual sin is forbidden. Thou shalt not steal. Thou shalt
not bear false witness in any way, the truth, the whole truth,
and nothing but the truth. Thou shalt not covet. That's
what I think about when I think about being under the law. I
don't want to be under that law. I love that law. But you know
what? I'm not under it because I'm
under grace. That law is fulfilled. That law is honored. I believe
the gospel. Believers are not under that
law. We love God's law. We delight in it. testimony of God's holy character,
but I know this, all that law does is condemn me. I can't look
at any one commandment and say, well, I've kept that one. No,
that's all it does. All it's given is to let you
know you're guilty. But Paul does not mention the
10 commandments when he says, tell me you that desire to be
under law. Don't you hear it? Let's go and
read it. Verse 22, for it's written, He
appeals to the scripture for it's written that Abraham had
two sons, the one by a slave and the other by a free woman. Verse 23, but he who was of the
bond woman, the slave, was born after the flesh. There was nothing
supernatural. She was a young woman. There
was nothing supernatural about it. Abraham came into her. She
was born after the flesh, but he of the free woman was by promise. You see, it was impossible for
the flesh. It was by the promise of God. And then he says in verse
24, which things are an allegory for these are the two covenants. Now in This story of Abraham
and Sarah, Hagar, Isaac, and Ishmael, we're given the two
covenants. Now, once again, if I just read
this on my own, I'd just think it's one of those weird Old Testament
stories, and I wouldn't understand it, and I'd think, well, that's
just the way things were back then. But this is given, as every other
Old Testament scripture is given, to illustrate some aspect of
the gospel. There are only two covenants. The covenant of works, and the
covenant of grace. Now the covenant of works is
Sarah and Abraham doing their part. God's promise will not
come to pass unless I do what I need to do in order to make
it come to pass. Now that's no different than
salvation by obedience to the 10 commandments. It is works
and that is all it is. covenant of works. It was made
with Adam in the garden. And you think about this, in
the garden before they'll fall, Adam had an innocent nature.
He didn't have a sinful nature like you and I do. He had no
appetite for sin. He had no, he had no sin. He was innocent. He walked with
God. And he was only given one commandment. How many hundreds or thousands
of trees were in the Garden of Eden and there's one tree that
you can't eat thereof? You'd think he could have kept away from that one tree. But this lets me know I did it
too. If I just have that, that seems
to me almost to be the easiest condition anybody could live
up to. I mean, you're in this giant tree with an innocent nature.
You don't even have sinful desires and sinful thoughts. God tells
you not to eat of it. And you think, all right, I won't
do it. I've got all these other trees.
But what do you do? Same thing you would have done.
Same thing you did do when he did it. He ate of the fruit in
disobedience to God's command. Now, that's the covenant of works,
salvation conditioned on you. Salvation dependent upon you
doing something. God doing his part, and now it's
up to you to do your part to make what he did work for you.
Now, salvation by works, is seen in one of these three places.
The beginning, the middle, and the end. The beginning. I'm saved because
I accepted the offered mercy. I received the forgiveness of
sins. That's why I'm saved, because
of what I have done. Now, I couldn't have been saved
without what he did. But the reason I'm saved is because I
accepted the offered mercy. God never offers mercy. God never offers grace. God never
offers forgiveness. He has mercy. He gives grace. He forgives. And it's not dependent upon you
doing something to accept it. Salvation begins with the work
and will and decree of God. In the middle, well, you'd think
by the grace of God, Him enabling you, that you could become better
by grace. You could at least get the victory
over the horrible sins in your life and not commit them anymore.
And you could become a better person and a more righteous person
and more holy to God, more pleasing to God, less sinful. That's by
grace. It's by the grace of God you
do that. But you can become more holy, more pleasing to God, more
sanctified and less sinful by the things you do. Works. Works. That's all it is. Now, I want to be obedient to
the Lord. I'm not trying to say we don't
care about that. We do. But I was talking to one
man this week, and he made this statement. He said, if being
delivered from sin means having the power to not commit any one
sin ever again, that terrifies me. Well, that would terrify
me, too. That would utterly terrify me.
That is works. Becoming more holy, more pleasing
to God by your works. And then the end of salvation,
the place you're given in heaven. Well, I'm gonna be given a higher
position than you because I did more. I preached, I prayed, I
gave more, I suffered more, I did more. I'm gonna get a higher
place in heaven than the person who didn't do as much as me.
Somebody that believes that doesn't believe grace at all. There's
not a drop of grace in that kind of thinking. And there's not
a drop of love in that kind of thinking. Oh, I'm going to have
it better than you. I'm going to step on you on my way up.
Well, that's blasphemous. Blasphemous. All that is, is
works. And the covenant of works is
doomed for failure because you and I are going to fail under
it. Not only, though, is there the
covenant of works. That's the one covenant. Remember,
there's two covenants. The covenant of grace. Now, that covenant
that God made with Adam in the garden, this is a covenant that
God made with Christ before time began. He gave Christ a people called
the elect. And he said, you take full responsibility
for their salvation. Everything I require of them,
it's up to you to take care of. It's illustrated so clearly in
Genesis 43, if you will turn there. You'll remember Jacob didn't
want to send Benjamin. He was afraid something would happen
to him. Judah says, Take him, verse eight,
Genesis 43. And Judah said unto Israel, his
father, send the lad with me, and we will arise and go that
we may live and not die, both we and thou and also our little
ones. I will be surety for him of my hand, shalt thou require
him. And this is the Lord speaking
for me. This is the Lord speaking for all of his elect. of my hand
thou shalt require him. If I bring him not unto thee
and set him before thee, then let me bear the blame forever. Now that is the covenant of grace. God's people given to Christ,
Christ voluntarily taking them and assuming full responsibility
for their salvation. Don't you want to have any part
in it? No, no. Not any part. I love the covenant
of grace, where all my salvation is dependent not on me, but on
the Lord Jesus Christ doing everything for me. Somebody says, well,
you're expecting him to do everything. Yes, I am. Yes, I am. And that's who I'm completely
relying on the covenant that God made with Christ before time
began. And the Lord took complete responsibility
for my salvation. I love David's dying words. I
can't go very long without quoting this verse of scripture. Although
my house be not so with God and his house was a dysfunctional
mess. There were things going on that
you and I don't know anything about. What if your kids were
murdering each other and raping each other? That's the kind of
stuff he had going on. He had two of his sons rebel
against him and try to take over the kingship and put him out
of business. His house was a mess. And I think
even more, he's saying, although this house, this body, The same
body that the Apostle Paul spoke of in Romans chapter seven when
he said, oh, wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from
this body of death? Although my house be not so with
God, yet, yet, he hath made with me an
everlasting covenant. never had a beginning, and it's
ordered in all things, and sure. Let me tell you why it's sure.
It's sure because of the blood of Christ. We're getting ready
to observe the Lord's table in just a few moments, and what
we're glorying in is that all the covenant promises of grace
come to us because of, and only because of, the broken body and
shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. And we're remembering,
in remembering Him, we're remembering that all of God's blessings come
to us through Him. Ordered in all things ensure,
and this is all my salvation and all my desire. Now, what
is Isaac most famous for? What's he most famous for? Well,
when Abraham took him up on Mount Moriah to offer him as a burnt
offering. I have no doubt that that's what
he's most famous for. But I like thinking about when he was swindled
by Jacob. Turn to Genesis chapter 27. Genesis 27. Isaac was a very old man this
time. He had actually gone blind. He was so old. I'm sure his eyes
were covered by cataracts. And he says in verse 1, it came
to pass that when Isaac was old and his eyes were dim, so that
he could not see, he called Esau his eldest son. Remember, that's
his favorite boy. Jacob was Rebekah's favorite. Esau, the hunter. was Isaac's favorite. And he
said, and my son, he said, behold, here I am. He said, behold, now
I'm old. I know not the day of my death.
Now therefore take, I pray thee, thy weapons, thy quiver and thy
bow and go out to the field and take me some venison and make
me savory meat as such as I love and bring it to me that I may
eat, that my soul may bless thee before I die. And when Rebecca
heard these things, she was listening. And she knew that the family
blessing, the birthright, the inheritance was now going to
be given to Esau. So she says to her son, Jacob,
here's what I want you to do. You go out and get me two kids
of goats and bring them in and I'll kill them and make it taste
just exactly like that venison your father loves. He'll never
know the difference. Jacob says, how can I do that?
What if he finds out I'm a deceiver? What if he finds out that I'm
not really Esau? Son, listen to me. You do exactly
what I say. Don't deviate it from it a bit.
You go get those kids. And she went and got some of
Esau's raiment that would make him smell exactly like Esau. Remember, a blind man has a heightened
sense of smell, heightened sense of touch, hearing. And she took
the skins of those goats and put it on the back of his neck
and on his arm so he'd feel just like Esau. And can you imagine
how afraid he was? He knew this was nothing but
deception. He didn't know what was gonna happen. But let's pick
up reading in verse 18. And he came unto his father and
said, my father, And he said, here am I, who art thou, my son?
And Jacob said unto his father, I am Esau, thy firstborn. I've done according as thou bath'st
me. Rise, I pray thee. Sit and eat my venison, that
thy soul may bless me. And Isaac said unto his son,
how is it that thou hast found it so quickly, my son? And he
said, because the Lord thy God brought it to me. Kind of brazen in his lying,
isn't he? And Isaac said unto Jacob, Come near, I pray thee,
that I may feel thee my son, whether thou be my very son Esau
or not. And Jacob went near unto Isaac
his father, and he felt him and said, The voice of Jacob's voice,
but the hands of the hands of Esau. And he discerned him not,
because his hands were hairy as his brother Esau's hands.
So he blessed him. And he said, Art thou my very son Esau? And
he said, I am. Now, this was an act of deception. No justification for it. It was
evil. If I come into the presence of
God, I'm gonna have to smell just like Jesus Christ. I'm going to have to feel just
like Jesus Christ. Art thou Christ? Because of union
with him. Yes. That's who I am. That is the only person God will
accept. And here's another example where
great good is brought out of great evil. You know, these guys
were something. They were something. But what
a picture of the gospel. But turn to Genesis 22. We'll
end with this. This is what Isaac is most famous
for. 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,
thine only son, Isaac. Ishmael is not acknowledged as
a son. 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." Now, there's
no one of us that hadn't thought, would I do that if God told me
to sacrifice my child? Could I do that? Well, let me
tell you how you could, if you believe God would raise him from
the dead. Yeah, you could do it if you believed God would
raise them from the dead. And that's exactly what he believed. Because he knew that the promise
was through Isaac. Remember, in Isaac shall the
seed be, not in Ishmael, in Isaac, the child of promise. Now let's
go on reading. Verse three, 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 claimed the wood for the burnt offering
and rose up and went unto the place of which God had told him.
And on the third day, Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the
place afar off. And Abraham said unto his young
men, abide ye here with the ash, and I and the lad will go yonder
and worship and come again to you. Now he had three days to
think about this. And he knew that God would raise
this boy from the dead. He knew it. He knew God would
never go back on his word. Verse six, and Abraham took the
wood of the burnt offering and laid it upon Isaac, his son,
and he took fire in his hand and a knife, and they went both
of them together up this mountain. And you know, that's such a picture
of the Lord Jesus Christ carrying the instrument of his own crucifixion
up the mountain. And Isaac spake unto Abraham
and said, his father, and said, my father. And he said, here
am I, my son. 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 land
for a burnt offering. Did Abraham know what he was
talking about? Yes, he did. You see, there is nothing you
could provide. You believe that? He's the one who provides. And
he provides for himself. For him to do something for me,
he first had to do something for himself. He had to make a
way to honor his holy law and his justice and yet save somebody
like me. And he provided himself as the
lamb for the burnt offering. Verse nine, and 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 you know what? I don't have
any doubt that Isaac did not resist. Why did he bind him? Well, that's what you do with
a sacrifice. But Isaac did not resist. And I have no doubt Abraham
explained to him, son, I'm gonna kill you, and God's gonna raise
you from the dead, because the promise is through you. The Lord
laid down his life willingly. He said, no man takes my life
from me. I have power to lay it down. I have power to pick
it up. This commandment have I received of my father. So Isaac
lays down willingly and Abraham stretched forth his knife and
took the knife to slay his son. And 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. And Abraham lifted up his eyes
and looked, and behold, behind him. Not in front of him, behind him. You know, your salvation,
is always behind you. I mean, there's nothing you do
to make it work. It's always behind you. And Abraham lifted up his eyes
and looked, and behold, behind him, a ram caught in a thicket
by his horns. The crown of thorns And Abraham
went and took the ram and offered him up for a burnt offering in
the stead of his son. Substitution. And Abraham called the name of
that place Jehovah-Jireh, as it said to this day, in the mount
of the Lord it shall be seen, and I have no doubt. that when
the Lord talked about Abraham rejoicing to see my day, that's
exactly what he was talking about. He was, I can imagine him coming
down that mountain rejoicing, happy, and I know somebody else
who was happy, Isaac. The gospel cannot really be understood
apart from Isaac. May the Lord bless this to our
hearts as we observe the Lord's table and remember that all of
our salvation is found in his broken body and shed blood. Let's pray. Lord, how we thank you for the
gift of thy son How we thank you for his supernatural birth,
how he was made flesh, how he kept your holy law perfectly,
how he never sinned. Lord, to think of when he said
when Satan came, he found nothing in him. There was nothing that
Satan could get a hold of because of the perfections of our Redeemer.
And Lord, that you gave him to take our sin upon himself where
it became his sin and to put it away and to give his righteousness
to us. Lord, your gospel is so glorious,
so glorifying to you and so sure for us. Hal, we thank you. And
Lord, as we observe thy table, enable us to do this in remembrance
of thee. In Christ's name we pray, amen.