Good morning. You turn with me
to Genesis chapter 22. Genesis chapter 22. You know
it's a terrifying thing to preach the gospel of God's grace. His
word and his truth is just so precious and so wonderful and
so glorious. And as time goes on, it becomes
more terrifying because you know that in yourself you can't ever
do justice to the glories that are revealed in the word of God.
And that's especially true of this passage. This passage here
is I think one of the most important passages in the word of God.
It's a picture, but it's so full of the gospel of God's grace. And I'd like us to look at just
a few of the things that we find here this morning, here in Genesis
chapter 22. And as you know, this is is an
event involving a father and a son, and it occurs on a lonely
mountain far from where they lived. Why is what transpired there
so important? It's because the events that
occur there foretell And they prefigure to us the most significant
event that there has ever been in the history of the world and
ever will be. And that's the death of Christ
upon the cross on that mountain. There on a mountain in Jerusalem,
we see the love of God displayed in the giving of his son. And this picture that we find
here in Genesis is a picture of the promise of that gift of
God, a promise of the gospel. As we read, just consider the
richness of the many things of the gospel that are pictured
here. Here we have an offering, a blood sacrifice. a substitutionary
sacrifice, a sacrifice provided by God. We have to a willing
sacrifice, an obedient sacrifice. And of course, we see the deep,
unfathomable love of the father for his son. And so much more
in this passage. This is a passage we could say that's full
and overflowing with types. This is one of the reasons it's
so difficult to preach from this passage because there is so much
here and it's easy to get off of the points that you want to
bring. And I'll try and do that. I'll try and do that. So just
read with me Genesis 22 and let's read this passage again, bring
it to our minds and then look at some of the things that I
trust the Lord will bless us with this morning. Verse one.
Now it came to pass after these things that God tested Abraham
and said to him, Abraham. And he said, here I am. Then
he said, take now your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love. and go to the land of Moriah
and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains
of which I shall tell you. So Abraham rose early in the
morning and saddled his donkey and took two of his young men
with him and Isaac his son. And he split the wood for the
burnt offering and arose and went to the place of which God
had told him. Then on the third day, Abraham
lifted his eyes and saw the place afar off. And Abraham said to
his young men, Stay here with the donkey. The lad and I will
go yonder and worship, and we will come back to you.' So Abraham
took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac, his son.
He took the fire in his hand and a knife, and the two of them
went together. But Isaac spoke to Abraham, his
father, and said, My father. And he said, Here I am, my son. Then he said, Look. The fire
and the wood, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?
And Abraham said, my son, God will provide for himself the
lamb for the burnt offering. So the two of them went together.
Then they came to the place of which God had told him, and Abraham
built an altar there and placed the wood in order. And he bound
Isaac, his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood. And
Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his
son. But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and
said, Abraham, Abraham. So he said, here am I. And he
said, do not lay your hand on the lad or do anything to him,
for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld
your son, your only son from me. Then Abraham lifted his eyes
and looked, and there behind him was a ram caught in a thicket
by its horns. So Abraham went and took the
ram and offered it up for a burnt offering instead of his son.
And Abraham called the name of the place the Lord will provide. As it is said to this day, in
the mount of the Lord it shall be provided. Then the angel of
the Lord called to Abraham a second time out of heaven, and he said,
By myself, I have sworn, says the Lord, because you have done
this thing and have not withheld your son, your only son. Blessing,
I will bless you. And multiplying, I will multiply
your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand
which is on the seashore. And your descendants shall possess
the gate of their enemies. In your seed, all the nations
of the earth shall be blessed. because you have obeyed my voice. Just think how greatly Abraham
would have grown in grace and in the knowledge of the Lord's
will and the redemption of his people after this experience.
Think too of the rich blessing this would have been to the generation
after generation of believing children of Abraham. as they
heard this story, as they waited with longing for the promise
that is found in this story. Now, as I said, there's so much
here, but the text I'd like us to focus on this morning is found
in God's words to Abraham, where he says, take now your son, your
only son, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah and
offer him there. Pictured to us upon this mount
in Moriah is clearly one of the most glorious declarations in
the word of God. For God so loved the world that
he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believeth in him
should not perish but have everlasting life. This is what's pictured
to us here on this mountain. What type of love is this? The
love of the father for his son. This is a love measured by the
giving of a son. This is a love measured by what
the son was given for, for us. There we've seen in 1 John, herein
is love, herein is love. Here is the love which is greater
than the greatest mountains. Deeper than the deepest depths. A love of God which has always
been and forever will be. An everlasting love. A love which
doesn't change. A love from which nothing can
separate. It's a love which passes all
knowledge. Here is this love. Here in his
love, the word of God tells us, here in his love, not that we
loved God, but that he loved us. And what did he do? And sent
his son to be the propitiation for our sins. What love there must have been
between God the Father and his only begotten son. How can we
even find the words to describe such love? You know, in comparison
to that love, even our very best love is like a candle in the wind compared
to the glory of the sun. The love in our relationship,
sadly, is marred, isn't it? It's marred, it's marred by sin,
disfigured by our self-centeredness, our selfishness, our insensitivity,
unkind words which we speak, hurtful actions, and disagreements
of all sorts, all sorts of sin. But the love of God the Father
isn't like that, is it? It's a love that is pure and
perfect, unmarred by even the least spot or blemish. There is no fear in this love. There is perfect harmony, perfect
unity between the Father and the Son. And we see how they're
continually one in heart, continually one in mind, One in purpose and
their relationship is one which can only be described as one
of divine joy. The father delights in his son. And the love of the father for
his son is an infinite love. Immeasurable love. It's an unbounding
love. As only the love of God can be.
Well, we read here that Abraham withheld not his son, his only
son whom he loved. And this is typifying the father,
God the father who spared not his own son. He didn't withhold
his son either, did he? He spared not his own son, but
delivered him up for us all, for us all. What incomprehensible
grace that is. Well, why was Abraham on this
mountain? Let's think of that for a moment.
What are the circumstances which led him to this place? Where
was the beginning? Well, the beginning's always
with God, isn't it? Turn back to Genesis chapter
12, and let's just see. Let's just see the beginning
of this, Genesis chapter 12. In fact, look back to 28 of 11
first, and let's see. Here we find, speaking of the
line of Abraham, it says, and Haran died before his father
Teran in his native land in Ur of the Chaldeans. Then Abram
and Nahor took wives, and the name of Abram's wife was Sarai,
and the name of Nahor's wife, Milca. the daughter of Haran,
the father of Milca and the father of Isca. But Sarai was barren. She had no child. Now, Abraham,
we're told, was a Chaldean. And as you know, the scriptures
reveal to us, he was a man of enormous wealth with many hundreds
of servants. He had immense herds and flocks. And he would have owned great
lands and houses. And as you know, with this would
have come power and influence in his native land. And we're told too that he was
viewed as a prince among men. And we read, here he is in Chaldea
and his wife, Sarah, is barren. And in chapter 12 now, go down
there. Verse one, and the Lord said
to Abram, get out of your country from your family and from your
father's house to a land that I will show you. I will make
you a great nation. I will bless you and I will make
your name great and you shall be a blessing. I will bless those
who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you, and in you
all the nations of the earth shall be blessed." Now, what
did Abraham do? Look at the next verse. So Abraham
departed as the Lord had spoken to him. He departed. He got up and left everything.
Everything. Why? because God had preached
the gospel to him. And you know that in Galatians
3, we're told that specifically, the scripture, foreseeing that
God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel
to Abraham beforehand saying, in you, all the nations shall
be blessed. Now, God preached the gospel
to Abraham. And if you're ever to hear the
gospel, if you're ever to hear the gospel, it's God who must
preach it to you. It doesn't matter whether you
hear it from a preacher or from someone speaking the truth to
you and from reading the word of God. Unless God preaches the
gospel to you, you'll never hear it. But if you hear the gospel, what
will you do? You'll do exactly what Abraham
did. You'll believe it. You'll believe the gospel because
God preached it to you. When God preached the gospel
to Abraham, life and light were poured out into his heart. Abraham
saw something that he'd never seen before. He saw that he was
a sinner. guilty before God and that his
only hope of justification and acceptance with God was in a
Savior. That's what we're being told
here. The provision of a Savior, not only for himself, but God
gives him this promise. Not only will he provide a Savior
for Abraham, but he'll provide a Savior for all nations of the
world. And in this promise, God told
Abraham this Savior, this promised Savior would come of his seed. Now, we know at this time, Abraham
was 75 years old when he departed from his country. 75. And he went out not knowing
where he was going. He left his country, his family,
his position, his place. Why? Because he knew that none
of these things mattered. They just didn't matter. All
the things that man seeks after, Abraham left because they just
didn't matter. And did Abraham ever think about
returning? He never did. The Word of God
tells us that. He never did. He never did. Now 25 years pass. Remember he's
75. 25 years pass and Abraham is still childless. 25 years.
And Sarah is now 90 years old. And they've been living this
entire time as strangers and pilgrims, as sojourners in a
strange land. Why didn't Abraham return? Because
he believed God. He never thought of returning.
He looked for a better country, we're told, didn't he? A city
which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God. That's
what he looked for. He believed God. Turn over to
Genesis 21. Genesis 21. No, before that,
turn to Romans, Romans chapter four. Let's consider this faith
of Abraham, Romans chapter four. And as we read these verses here, we're reminded of why Abraham
is called the father of all those who believe. Genesis chapter
four, let's just begin in verse 17 there. And we read, as it
is written, I have made you a father of many nations in the presence
of him whom he believed, God, who gives life to the dead and
calls those things which do not exist as though they did. who contrary to hope," now listen,
who contrary to hope, in hope believed, so that he became the
father of many nations according to what was spoken, so shall
your descendants be. And not being weak in faith,
he did not consider his own body now dead, since he was about
a hundred years old, and the deadness of Sarah's womb He did
not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strong
in faith, giving glory to God, being fully persuaded, fully
convinced that what he had promised, he was able also to perform.
And therefore, it was accounted to him for righteousness. Now
there's faith, isn't it? Here he is, going on a hundred
years old, his wife 90, He's received this promise that she
would bear a son. And in this son, from this son
would spring the savior of the world. And he leaves his land
and he sojourns and a year goes by and two and five and 10 and
25 years. But Abraham believed God. Look
there now in verse 21, chapter 21, sorry, of Genesis. Turn back
there to Genesis. And remember, we're considering,
how is it that Abraham and his son ended up on this mountain
in Moriah? And the Lord, verse, chapter
21 of Genesis, and the Lord visited Sarah as he had said. And the Lord did for Sarah as
he had spoken. For Sarah conceived and bore
Abraham a son in his old age. And when was that? At the set
time of which God had spoken to him. And Abraham called the
name of his son, which was born to him, whom Sarah bore him,
Isaac. And I like what Sarah says there
in verse six, look there. And Sarah said, God has made
me laugh. And all who hear will laugh with
me. And she also said, who would
have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Who would
have said? Think of the joy and the rejoicing
of Abraham and Sarah. as they held this child and Sarah
nursed this child. Isn't that a wonderful picture?
Here she is with a child of miraculous birth, a child of human impossibility,
a child long awaited for with great anticipation all those
years. Think of that. And here's this
child. But too, as we've seen, this
child was more than this. This child was a child of promise. Not born after the flesh, the
word tells us, but according to the spirit. He was born in
fulfillment of that great promise of the gospel that God had given
to Abraham when he called him out of that land those 25 years
before. And he said to him, in you, all
the nations of the earth will be blessed. And so this child
represented to Abraham and Sarah salvation, didn't he? As he grew
up before them, he represented salvation because God had told
them through this child, the Savior will come. We'll return
there to Genesis 22. our text. And now what does God do? He
says, take now your son, take now your son, this son, the son
that had been promised, the son in whom was invested the promise
of salvation. Take now your son, your only
son, Isaac, whom you love and go to the land of Moriah and
offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which
I shall tell you." Now, can we even begin to understand
what a shock that must have been for Abraham? This would have been like a searing
iron piercing his heart. And how confusing this must have
been to him. And how many questions must have
come to his mind. He would have wrestled with so
many conflicting thoughts. And we often do too, don't we? What transpired that night, we
don't know. We don't know. The Word of God
doesn't give us insight into it. But I think we can know it
was a night of agony, a night of anguish of
soul. How could it not be? But faith triumphed in the morning. Faith will always triumph. Even
if our faith is small, so small, it will always triumph in everything
that matters because it's a God-given faith. In Abraham, we see there
in verse three, Abraham rose early in the morning, prepared
all that was necessary, and arose and went to the place that God
had told him. And on the third day, he looked
up and he saw that place afar off. Why this place? Why this place? Why travel these
days to go to this place that God had told him and to come
to this very specific point, this mount? Well, we know, isn't
it? We know the reason in Second
Chronicles, we're told with respect to Solomon building the temple. We read there, now Solomon began
to build the house of the Lord at Jerusalem on Mount Moriah. It would be upon this mountain
some 2,000 years later that the Eternal Father would make the
soul of his beloved son an offering for sin. Yes, on this mountain,
the Mount of the Lord, it shall be provided. Now, as I read these next few verses
again, I'd like for us to see the great emphasis that the Holy
Spirit places upon the relationship of the Father and the Son here.
Clearly, This is pointing to the fellowship and the unity,
the obedience and the trust that exists between God the Father
and his son. Look there in verse six. So Abraham
took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac, his son. And he took the fire in his hand
and a knife and the two of them went together. But Isaac spoke
to Abraham, his father. And he said, my father. And he
said, here am I, my son. Then he said, look, the fire
and the wood, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?
And Abraham said, my son. God will provide for himself
the lamb for a burnt offering. So the two of them went together. Then they came to the place of
which God had told him. And Abraham built an altar there
and placed the wood in order. And he bound Isaac, his son,
and laid him on the altar upon the wood. And Abraham stretched
out his hand and took the knife to slay his son." Now, as I've
said, this whole passage, it's overflowing with types which
point to the spiritual reality. There's so much here, but let's
just keep on this point that we want to consider this love
of the father for his son and the relationship that exists
as they go up this mountain together to offer Isaac upon this mountain. Now, I want us to see that Isaac
is a powerful and profound illustration too of the willing obedience
and trust of the Lord Jesus Christ towards his father and the great
work of redemption. At this time Isaac would have
been a young man. Now there's a lot of discussion
about what exactly his age was but it's not important. It's
clear that he was a young man at this point because we're told
that Abraham laid the wood of the burnt offering on his son.
Isaac carried that wood for the burnt offering. Now remember
a burnt offering is an offering which consumes the entire sacrifice
in the flames. If you've ever tried to burn
something, you know that this is a considerable amount of wood. For Isaac to carry that wood,
it would have great weight. It would have not only required
a man to carry, but a strong man. And the wood for the burnt
offering was laid upon Isaac. And he was grown. He was in all likelihood fully
grown. And so when Abraham took his
son's hands and bound them and laid him on the wood on the altar, could he have resisted? He most
certainly could. Remember, Abraham's an old man,
well over 100 years old at this point in time. And here's this
young man and he could have resisted, but you notice there's no resistance. is just a quiet and willing obedience
to his father. Isn't that remarkable? He trusts him. He trusts his
father, doesn't he? Isaac trusts his father. And this, I think, provides a
powerful picture to us that the work of redemption was a work
of obedience of the son to the father. I don't think we think
of redemption very often in those terms, do we? But the scripture
is emphasizing, and here we have it pictured. The Lord Jesus emphasizes
this throughout his ministry. We see that especially in John
10 where he says, speaking of his death, he says, therefore,
my father loves me because I lay down my life that I might take
it again. No one takes it from me, but
I lay it down of myself. There's that willingness. No
one takes it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power
to lay it down and I have power to take it again. This command
have I received from my father. And upon this mountain, we see
a wonderful type of Christ as he became obedient to death,
even the death of the cross. Well, Abraham, we see he built
an altar. He placed the wood in order.
He bound Isaac, his son. He laid him upon the altar. And Abraham stretched out his
hand and took the knife. Would Abraham really have slain
his son? Yes, he most certainly would
have. How do we know that? Because
the word of God tells us that. Turn over to Hebrews chapter
11 for a moment. Hebrews chapter 11. How could Abraham do this? You know, naturally speaking,
we think about this and we think it's impossible. He could never
do it. How could Abraham do this? What
were his thoughts? Well, Abraham believed in the
God who gives life from the dead. Now here scripture tells us specifically
what his thoughts were at this time. Verse 17, read there. By faith, Abraham, when he was tested,
offered up Isaac. See, notice how scripture even
puts it. He offered up Isaac. Well, he
didn't offer up Isaac, did he? But he did, he did. Go on, go
on. He offered up Isaac and he who
had received the promises offered up his only begotten son of whom
it was said, in Isaac your seed shall be called. And here's what
Abraham thought, concluding, that God was able to raise him
up, even from the dead, from which he also received him in
a figurative sense. You see, Abraham so believed
God, the word of God to him, with regard to this son, whom
he told in his seed all the nations of the earth would be blessed,
that from this son would come the Savior, that Abraham knew
that if God tells me to go and slay my son on the mountain and
I do that, then he'll raise him up from the dead. So certain
was he of that that it says it was as if he received him from
the dead. From the time God had told him
to go slay his son, As far as Abraham was concerned, his son
was already dead. And when he wasn't slain, he
received him back from the dead in a figurative sense. So even
here we see the type of the resurrection of Christ, don't we, of the son.
But like I said, we don't want to get distracted. God had preached the gospel to
Abraham. Abraham knew salvation for himself
and for a multitude of people of every nation would come from
this seed. He believed that. He believed
that. Now listen, he believed that
with his whole heart. He believed it with such great
faith that he was willing to offer up his only begotten son
if God told him to do that. God had told him that the promised
seed would come through Isaac, yet he was willing to offer up
Isaac, concluding that God was able even to raise him from the
dead. Well, turn back to Genesis 22, and let's just consider one
last point here. As Abraham, as the father and
the son made their way up that mountain in Moriah, we find repeated
twice, and the two of them went together. And the two of them went together. how wonderfully we see the perfect
unity and the love and the fellowship between God the Father and God
the Son in the glorious work of redemption. They're one in
heart, one in mind, one in will, one in purpose in all that they
do, especially with respect to the redemption of his people.
You remember in the beginning of the gospel, of Jesus Christ. John saw Jesus coming towards
him and he cried out, Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away
the sin of the world. And when he baptized him, a voice from heaven spoke. This
is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased. The two of them,
the father and the son, went together. And as Jesus went throughout
all the regions preaching the kingdom of God, working great
miracles, healing the sick, he continually stressed that
he did nothing of himself. He said to the Pharisees, when
you lift up the son of man, then you will know that I am he and
I do nothing of myself. But as my father taught me, I
speak those things. and the two of them went together.
When Jesus, too, think of that transfiguration on the mountain,
when his robes became white as the sun. and his face shone as the light.
And there too, the disciples heard again that voice from heaven.
This is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased. And the two
of them went together. And when Jesus set his face to
go to Jerusalem, we hear him say, now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? Father,
save me from this hour? But for this purpose I came to
this hour. Father, glorify your name. Then
a voice came from heaven saying, I have glorified it and will
glorify it again. The two of them went together.
Then Jesus comes to Gethsemane. And in unimaginable agony of
soul, where he sweat these great drops of blood, We read in Hebrews that the son
went aside to offer up prayers and supplications with vehement
cries and tears to him who was able to save him from death and
was heard because of his godly fear. My father, and the father
answered, here am I, my son. The two of them went together.
We see to the quiet, confident trust of the son and his father
again and again throughout the revealed scriptures. In Psalm 16, we have just one
example. And that Psalm begins in this
way, "'Preserve me, O God, for in you I put my trust.'" That's
the son speaking to the father. And then farther we hear these
wonderful words uttered by the son to his father. Therefore,
my heart is glad. And my glory rejoices. My flesh
also will rest in hope. For you will not leave my soul
in shale, nor will you allow your Holy One to see corruption.
You will show me the path of life. In your presence is joy,
fullness of joy. At your right hand are pleasures
forevermore. And now the day had come. The
day had come and the promised seed of Abraham went up that
mount in the land of Moriah. Think of this. A son, Jesus Christ,
the Lord Jesus Christ, A son of Abraham went up that mountain. He went up with his father. The
father and the only begotten son of his love went together. And once again, a father reached
out his hand to take the knife and to slay his son. The word
tells us, awake, O sword, against my shepherd. Against the man
who is my companion, says the Lord of hosts. He takes that
knife, and the son cries out, my father, but there is no answer. Why? Because God has provided
for himself the lamb. There on that mound, Lord made his soul an offering
for sin. And as the weight of the sins
of his people were laid upon him, the son cried out in anguish
and sorrow. The depths of which the world
has never seen and will never see again. My God, my God, why
have you forsaken me? This cry from the cross was the
cry of forsakenness. The cry of forsakenness that
is the wages of sin, our sin. This was an infinite forsakenness
endured for us because he bore our sins in his own body on the
cursed tree. He by himself bore our sins. And of the people, there were
none with him, the scriptures tell us. He tread out the winepress
of the wrath of God alone. And he accomplished so great
a salvation. So great a salvation. The salvation
of a multitude of people. How many? As many as the stars
of the sky and as the sand of the seashore. Yes, yes, on the
Mount. of the Lord it shall be provided. And it was provided. Amen.