Turn with me, if you would, to
Genesis 22. Genesis 22, and I'd like to read
the first 14 verses. Starting in verse 1, and it came
to pass after these things that God did tempt Abraham and said
unto him, behold Abraham. And he said, behold, here I am. And he said, take now thy son,
thine 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.' 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 into the
place of which God had told him. Then 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 ass, and I and
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 and the sand and the knife, and they
went both of them together. And Isaac spake 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 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. And Abraham stretched forth his
hand 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 that thou hast not withheld thine
only son from me. And Abraham lifted 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
for a burnt offering in the stead of his son. Abraham called the
name of the place Jehovah-Jireh, as it's said to this day, and
the Mount of the Lord, it shall be seen. Let's pray. Dear Heavenly Father, we come
in your presence in the name of thy Son. Lord, we give thee
thanks. Lord, we're thankful for this day. Lord, we're thankful
that you brought us here to worship you, Lord. And Lord, that's our
desire today, Lord, that you would give us the grace, cause
us to worship thee as we ought. Lord, we pray for those who would
preach and teach, Today, Lord, we pray that you'd deliver us
from ourselves. Lord, we pray for Aaron this
morning, and we pray for Frank tonight. Lord, we pray that you'd be with
them, Lord. Lord, above all, we ask that
you'd be glorified and exalted. Lord, we confess our sins, ask
you for forgiveness for Christ's sake. Lord, cause us to believe. Lord, may we be found in Christ.
In his name we pray, amen. There was a young preacher who
brought a sermon once, and he thought it had gone very well.
And after the sermon, the young man asked the old pastor how
he thought it had gone. And the old pastor said, it was very
poor. Surprised, the young man asked, well, did I not prepare
long enough? No, you were very well prepared,
said the old pastor. And the young man said, well,
did I not speak very clearly? No, you spoke very clearly. You
were spot on. Well, said the young man, did
I say something wrong? No, no, everything he said was correct.
Everything he said was true. Puzzled, the young man asked
the preacher, well, what was the problem? And the old pastor
said, you didn't preach Christ. To which the young man replied,
Christ wasn't in the text. The old pastor looked at the
young man and said, Christ is always in the text. It's our
job to keep looking until we find him. You see, our Lord Jesus
Christ is in this book, both in the New Testament and in the
Old Testament, and if we can't find Him in a particular part
of the Bible, then we should keep looking and we should ask
the Lord to show us. There are many great types of
the Lord Jesus Christ in the Old Testament, and a type is
an illustration or an allegory or a picture, and we see one
of the clearest pictures of Christ in all the Word of God here in
this passage. So I'd just like to read through this passage
and make a few comments about the picture we have of our Lord
Jesus Christ, and in doing so, I hope that we'll also see the
gospel of God's grace. So verse 1, let's read it 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.
Here we see that God tempted Abraham. And it's important to
point out, well, first of all, on my margin, tempt here is translated
to try or to prove. So it's important to point out
God doesn't cause men to sin. We sin all on our own. He doesn't
cause me to sin. He doesn't cause you to sin.
When left to ourselves, sin is all we do. It's all we're capable
of. And the problem is we have a sinful nature and we're bound
by our nature. So let's turn to Genesis 6, 5. This is a verse
I think I've probably had in every lesson I've done for the
middle school class. I think it's a good one. Genesis
6, 5. And God saw that the wickedness
of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of
the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. I ask you and I ask myself, do
I really believe that all I am is sin? Do I believe that every
imagination, every thought, every motive in my heart is only evil
all the time? Well, you might say, surely I
can't be that bad. Well, look, this is the testimony of the
word of God concerning me. This is the testimony of the
word of God concerning you. I pray that the Lord would show
every one of us what we really are by nature, only evil all
the time. So verse two, back in Genesis
22. Verse two, and he said, take
now thy son, thine 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. And here
we see Isaac as a type or picture of our Lord Jesus Christ. Isaac
was Abraham's son, and our Lord Jesus Christ is God's son. Isaac
was Abraham's only true son, and throughout the scriptures,
Christ is called God's only begotten son. 1 John 4-9 says, in this
was manifested the love of God towards us, because the God sent
his only begotten son into the world that we might live through
him. We also see in this verse that Abraham loved his son Isaac
very much, and we know that God loves His Son as well. God calls
our Lord Jesus Christ His beloved Son in Matthew 3.17, and lo,
a voice from heaven sang, this is my beloved Son in whom I am
well pleased. So we see here, God commanded
Abraham to take his Son, his only Son, his only Son who he
loved, and offer Him up as a burnt offering, as a sacrifice. Who
else was offered up as a sacrifice? Let's turn to Isaiah 53. Isaiah 53, verse 10. Isaiah 53, 10, yet it pleased
the Lord to bruise him. He hath put him to grief, when
thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed,
he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall
prosper in his hand. Our Lord Jesus Christ was bruised.
He was put to grief, his soul was made an offering, a sacrifice
for the sins of his elect. Back to Genesis 22, let's read
on verse 3. Genesis 22, 3, 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 into the place of which
God had told him. Here in verse 3, we see the obedience
of Abraham and the obedience of Isaac in following his father.
Abraham and Isaac did not delay in obeying God's command. It
says here they rose up early and they prepared exactly as
the Lord had commanded. And they went quickly to the
place that God had commanded. Let's turn to John 6. We'll see here Christ's obedience
in John 6. John 6, 38 through 40. For I came down from heaven not
to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me. And
this is the Father's will which has sent me, that all which he
had given me I should lose nothing, but raise it up again at the
last day. And this is the will of him that sent me, that everyone
which seeth the Son and believeth on him may have everlasting life,
and I will raise him up at the last day." We see here that Christ
was also obedient to the will of the Father. And what is the
will of the Father? That he should lose none of the
elect, not even one. Everyone who sees and believes
our Lord Jesus Christ will have everlasting life. I pray the
Lord would cause me to see Christ and to believe Him, and I pray
the Lord would cause you to see Christ and believe Him as well.
So back to our text, Genesis 22. Genesis 22 verse 4, then on the
third day Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place of far
off. Abraham had three days of travel
to think about what the Lord had commanded him to do. And
I was listening to a message from Henry Mahan on this passage,
and he went into great detail on the process of the burnt offering,
which I've probably heard before, but it was interesting to me. So a burnt offering, the way
it's brought, first, you cut the sacrifice's throat, and blood
pours out, and you collect that blood in a vessel. Second, you
flay the sacrifice, which means to remove all of its skin. Third,
you quarter the sacrifice, you cut it into four pieces, and
then last, you lay it on the altar, and you burn it slowly,
overnight, until there's nothing left but ashes. Many of you here
have children, and most of you know I have a two-year-old daughter
named Eleanor. For a few more days, she'll be my only child.
And I love her, apart from my wife, I love her more than anything
else in this world. I can't imagine what Abraham
was going through at this time. I know in my heart the only way
I could obey a command like this is if the Lord gave me the grace
to do so. So let's look in verse 5 and
see the grace and faith that Abraham was given by God. Genesis
22, 5, and 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. What grace Abraham was given
here. In the face of this incredibly difficult command, this terrible
trial, Abraham says that he and the lad were going to worship.
Oh, that we would have the same attitude. We will have trials
in this life, that we know for sure. Sometimes we'll have trials
that seem too great to bear. Some of us here today may be
going through such a trial, but when we are faced with such a
trial, can we still worship Christ as our sovereign? When he tries
or proves our faith, Can we say with conviction that all things
work together for our good and His glory? And what faith we
see here, Abraham tells these men, I and the lad will go yonder
and worship and come again to you. Now, Abraham fully intends
to obey this command. We know this in verse 10, because
if you read on in verse 10, it says, Abraham took the knife
to slay his son. He was fully intending to go
through with this command. He intends to sacrifice Isaac
just as he was commanded by the Lord, as a burnt offering And
yet, he has the faith to tell his men, I and the lad will return
unto thee. How can this be? How can Abraham
have this faith? Well, let's turn back to Genesis 17. Genesis 17, 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." You see, before Isaac was
ever born, God made an everlasting covenant with him and his seed
after him. And Abraham had faith in this
covenant. Abraham trusted the Lord and believed that he would
stay true to his promise. He had faith that God would spare
his son Isaac. And who else did God make an everlasting covenant
with before the foundation of the world? Who else was faithful
that God would keep His promise? Hebrews 13.20 says, Now the God
of peace that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that
great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting
covenant. In eternity, God made an everlasting
covenant with His Son, a covenant that He would suffer and die
for the sins of His elect and be raised again. He bore our
sins in His own body, and in return, we are made the perfect
righteousness of our Lord Jesus Christ. So we see in the face
of this great trial, Abraham, in the face of this great test
of Abraham's faith, he believed the Lord would keep his promise.
He believed the Lord would fulfill his covenant and that Isaac would
return alive. So let's read on in verse six,
back in our text, Genesis 22. Genesis 22, verse 6, 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. Here we read that Abraham took the wood of
the burnt offering and laid it upon Isaac, his son, and they
went both of them together up the mountain. Isaac carried the
wood for the altar that he was to be sacrificed on up the mountain
to the appointed place, Mount Moriah. Who else in the scriptures
carried wood up a mountain to his own crucifixion? Let's turn
to John 19. John 19, we'll read verses 16
through 18. Then delivered he him therefore
unto them to be crucified, and they took Jesus and led him away.
And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the
place of a skull, which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha, where
they crucified him, and two other with him on either side one,
and Jesus in the midst. Our Lord Jesus Christ carried
the wooden cross up the mountain to the appointed place, Mount
Calvary, where he was to be sacrificed as a perfect substitute for all
of his elect. What a glorious type of Christ
Isaac is in this passage. So back to our text, verse 7. And Isaac spake 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? As Abraham and Isaac walked up
the mountain, Isaac asked his father, Where is the lamb for
the burnt offering? Isaac had no doubt at this point
in his life seen many burnt sacrifices, and he knew there needed to be
a lamb. Isaac knew there needed to be blood. Isaac knew there
was no acceptance, no forgiveness, no communion between God and
men without the lamb, without the blood. And isn't this the
important question? Where's the lamb? Where's the
blood? Isn't this the question we should ask ourselves when
we're reading the scriptures? Where's the lamb? Where's the blood?
Isn't this the important question in salvation? Where's the lamb?
Where's the blood? I googled this. The word blood
is used 447 times in the King James Bible. And I don't think the importance
of the blood can be overemphasized. So I'd just like to read a few
passages. You don't have to turn there, but I want to read a few
passages in the Word of God that speak of the importance of the
blood. Hebrews 9.22, and almost all things are by the law purged
with blood, and without shedding of blood is no remission. Leviticus
17.11, for the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I've given
it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls.
And it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul. And
then Exodus 12.13, And the blood shall be to you for a token upon
the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will
pass over you. And the plague shall not be upon
you to destroy you when I smite the land of Egypt." What is my
hope of salvation? The shed blood of our Lord and
Savior, Jesus Christ. Nothing more, nothing less. Back in our text, let's read
verse 8. And Abraham said, my son, God
will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering. So they went
both of them together. And here we see Abraham utters
this great prophecy that's at the very heart of all God's purpose,
the gospel, and our hope in salvation. I think in this simple statement,
oh, sorry, he later named the place Jehovah-Jireh, we see at
the end of the chapter, which is translated to the Lord will
see to it or the Lord will provide. And in this simple statement
here in verse eight, we see the what, the how, and most importantly,
the who in salvation. So what is needed in salvation?
Let's read it again. My son, God will provide himself a lamb
for a burnt offering. What's needed? A burnt offering,
sacrifice. A substitutionary sacrifice,
a blood sacrifice. This was the issue when Cain
slew Abel, and isn't this the issue now? Is Christ's blood
sufficient? Did his blood accomplish all
in salvation? Is the work finished? Or do I
have some part to play? So again, what is needed in salvation?
A sacrifice. Second, how do we obtain the sacrifice? I'll read
it again. My son, God, will provide himself a lamb as a burnt offering.
How do we obtain the sacrifice? It's provided. freely and without
any contribution or merit on our part. We have no part to
play in this thing of salvation. God will have all the glory,
he will not share it. Is that good news to you? Because
it's certainly good news to this center. So second, how do we obtain the
sacrifice? It's provided. Third, and finally, who provides
the sacrifice? My son, God will provide himself
a lamb for the burnt offering. Who provides? the triune God,
the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit provide all that's
needed in salvation. Let's turn to Philippians 4. Philippians 4 verses 19 and 20.
But my God shall supply all your need according to His riches
in glory by Christ Jesus. Now unto God and our Father be
glory forever and ever. Amen. This prophecy can be read
actually in a couple of different ways. It can be read as the Lord
will provide Himself as the Lamb. For our Lord Jesus Christ, the
Lamb of God is God. It can also be read the Lord
will provide for Himself a Lamb. For the Lord God is the offended
majesty to whom and for whom the blood was shed, that he might
be both just and justifier." Romans 3, 23 through 26 reads,
for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. being
justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is
in Christ Jesus, whom God has set forth to be a propitiation
through faith in his blood to declare his righteousness for
the remission of sins that are passed through the forbearance
of God. To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness,
that he might be just and the justifier of him who believeth
in Jesus." All that God requires of me, He provides for me in
the perfect person and shed blood of His Son, our Lord and Savior
Jesus Christ. So back to our text in Genesis
22 verse 9. Verse 9, 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 laid
him on the altar upon the wood. We see here another type of Christ.
If you remember, Isaac's birth was actually a miracle. Let's
turn back to Genesis 18, just a few pages back. Genesis 18, read verses 10 through
12. Genesis 18, 10, and he said,
I will certainly return unto thee according to the time of
life, and lo, Sarah thy wife shall have a son. And Sarah heard
it in the tent door which is behind him. 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 am waxed old, shall I have pleasure, my
Lord, being old also? At this time Abraham and Sarah
were both very old and well-stricken in age, and Sarah had gone through
menopause. She was physically unable to
have a child. And yet God fulfilled his promise
and gave them a son, Isaac. We also know that our Lord Jesus
Christ's birth was a miracle. He was born of a virgin. So Abraham
is well over 100 years when this took place. And no one knows
exactly how old Isaac was, but most of the commentaries say
he's probably anywhere between 13 and 30. So he's probably a
teenager in his 20s. At this point, there's no doubt
that Isaac was much stronger than Abraham. Isaac allowed himself
to be bound. He allowed himself to be laid
upon the altar. He could have fought back. He
easily could have run away, but he didn't. Isaac was willing
to be sacrificed, just as God commanded. And Isaac, too, knew
what a burnt offering was. Who else in the Scripture was
a willing and obedient sacrifice? Who else allowed himself to be
bound to a tree? Who else allowed his father's wrath to rain down
upon him? Who else allowed the knife of God's justice to pierce
His heart? Our Lord Jesus Christ. Let's turn back to Philippians.
This is the last scripture I'll have you turn to. Philippians 2, verse 6 through
8. Philippians 2, verse 6. who, being in the form of God,
thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but made himself
of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and
was made in the likeness of men. And being found in fashion as
a man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even
the death of the cross." So let's go back to our text. We'll finish
the story here. Genesis 22, verse 10. And Abraham stretched forth
his hand 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 that thou hast not withheld
thy son, thine only son, from me. And Abraham lifted up his
eyes and looked, and behold, him a ram caught in a thicket
by his horns. 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, and the mount of the Lord it shall
be seen, or the Lord will provide." So now we see the lamb caught
in the thicket as the type of Jesus Christ, the substitute.
And Isaac now represents all of the Lord's people, the elect
who must be saved through the substitute's finished work. So
we see at the end of this promise, God keeps His covenant with Abraham
and spares His son Isaac by providing a substitutionary lamb in Isaac's
stead. What a glorious type of Christ
Isaac is in this passage, and what a glorious gospel we have
in Jehovah-Jireh the Lord will provide. Now in closing, I'd
like us to consider that the Word of God is full of His promises,
and we know that God will always be faithful in fulfilling our
promises. Our pastor has on many occasions encouraged us to call
upon the Lord to fulfill what He promises in His Word. In Acts
26, the Philippian jailer asks, what must I do to be saved? And
the response given in the Word of God, Acts 16.31, says, believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy
house. That's my desire here today,
that I and my house will be saved. That's my desire for my wife.
That's my desire for my children. And this is the desire for my
family and my friends. I pray that the Lord would give
me the grace to believe. Is this your desire today? That
you and your house will be saved? If it is, ask the Lord that He
would cause you to believe. Ask Him that He would make you
believe that all that is required in salvation, the Lord will provide
in the perfect person and shed blood of His Son, our Lord and
Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.